Superman: The Last Son of Krypton
by mrjop2
Summary: When Lex Luther looses his military contracts due to the arrival of Superman, earth's supposed savior, Lex becomes determined to dispose of Superman and brings forth two villains that may be too much for even Superman to handle.
1. Victory Over Apokolips?

The following story is meant for entertainment purpose only; not meant to infringe upon any copyright laws. No profit was or should be made on the following material. Story written: 2010. This is part one of a planned trilogy re-imagining the classic superhero. This is how

**SUPERMAN:**  
**THE LAST SON OF KRYPTON**

_Based on the DC comics characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster _

_Inspired by: Superman by Richard Donner starring Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder _

_Also Inspired by: the Popular DC comics and Superman: the animated series _

_Music composed by: John Williams_

**Chapter 1: Victory over Apokolips**

Far into the opposite end of unknown region of space was a small ice planet of Krypton. This was a time of war and turmoil for the Kryptonians. As fire is the natural enemy of ice, so was the planet of Apokolips the enemy of Krypton.

Apokolips was feared amongst all planets in the system. Many planets have fallen to the might of Apokolips ruthless tyrant, Darkseid. Every planet conquered by this tyrant was transformed from a peaceful tranquil paradise to a volcanic red planet of death or was destroyed in the process. Krypton was one of the few planets that had the military might to stand up against the dark army.

A steady flowing stream of blue and red crossfire was lighting up the blackness of space above the atmosphere of Krypton. Darkseid had tried to achieve a surprise attack on Krypton, but had failed miserably as his fleet of ten red and black war cruiser met with a dozen of Kryptonians white defenders.

Darkseid s fleet did not retreat once they realized that the surprise belonged to Krypton as some of the council members had predicted. Jor-El was not surprised in the least. Retreating was not in Darkseid s blood; it would be a sign of weakness. No, but at the same time, even Darkseid would know that at a certain point that it would be in his own best interest to pull back to conserve his forces, yet all signs showed that Darkseid was being abnormally persistent. This forced the question: why? What was he up to?

Jor-El braced himself as the ground beneath him began to shake. He stormed down the narrow corridor. He was in a great hall, with all the walls and the ground were made of see through crystal. Small ruble from the crystals fell with each tremor. He would not allow anything to stop him from reaching his destination. He wiped the crystal ruble from on top of his family crest on his chest as he walked.

The family name was important to all Kryptonians. Each and every family had their own family crest, and all Kryptonian men that were in politics or science wore their family crest on their chests printed in black. Jor-El s family crest was in the shape of an S in the center of a diamond.

Jor-El stormed down the crystal hallway and stormed into the council chamber where the members were franticly prancing around the council table. "How much damage has our defenders acquired?"

"We have lost one defender for two of their war cruisers. We seem to be handing out more damaging blows." an old gentleman who had thick white hair replied.

"That's all the damage? Darkseid is not pressing as hard as you would expect."

"Just because we are winning, does that mean that Lord Darkseid is not trying?" a robotic voice echoed throughout the room. Everyone looked up to see a platform lower from the ceiling. Sitting on a chair on the platform was an android with a triangle on the forehead and a round white spot on each of the three corners. There were wires coming in and out of him from his arms and the back of his head and connecting to a supercomputer to his side.

"Darkseid is evil, and not to be underestimated, Brainiac. If he was serious about invading Krypton, he would have sent a larger army to do so. Something is amiss here!"

"Come now, Jor-El. You fear is illogical. There is no foundation for your reasoning. Our defenders are doing their job."

"I don't question how well are defenders are doing their job, but I smell a trap. Darkseid is up to something."

"If he is, we will be prepared!" Brainiac replied in his cold robotic tone.

"We have just destroyed another warship!" another council member cheered, walking up to the round table. "You see, I calculate a ninety-six percent chance of victory. Victory is all but assured."

Brainiac's assurance did not make him feel any better. He still had a deep feeling that a trap was being set. For the hope of his family, he prayed that he was wrong.

* * *

When another war cruiser exploded, Kalibak reported it immediately to his father. "Father, we have lost a third war cruiser!" He knew exactly what his father was about to do, and the more he thought about it, the more it excited him. Krypton would soon be no more.

Darkseid sat on his black thrown in the shadow. It was forbidden for anyone who served under him to behold him. The only thing that anyone could see was his glowing red eyes that occasionally released glowing red steam. "I think we have distracted them long enough. Launch the pod."

"Yes, Father." He turned to his father's minions who piloted his warship. "Fire the pod"

After a minute of waiting, the report returned to them. "The pod has successfully landed on the surface of Krypton."

"Excellent. Our work here is done. Cease the attack and let us return home to watch our victory unfold."

* * *

The council waited in the chamber. Jor-El was joined by his wife, Lara, as they waited on the next report from Brainiac. The intense silence in the chamber was finally broken when Brainiac made the announcement. "They're retreating!"

There was a great cheer among all people in the chamber except for

Jor-El. He stood there embracing his wife. Lara immediately noticed the lack of emotion on his part and gently squeezed his hand. "What's wrong? Are you not happy about our victory?"

"Victory," he replied. "Only time will tell if this was a victory."

"What's the matter, my old friend," a familiar voice called out from behind him. "We have just showed the armies of Apokolips that we are clearly far more superior."

"Superior, Zod?" Jor-El quickly picked up on his friend's choice of words. "Superior is not quite the word I would use, but then again, you have always seen yourself in a higher light."

General Zod smiled as he approached Jor-El and his wife wearing his typical all black military uniform. Only the military leaders like General Zod wore black instead of white. It was part of the psychological training that all military personal had to endure. "You worry too much, my old friend. We have nothing to fear from Darkseid, especially when I am in command. You should have joined me in the military. Together we could have ended this war years ago."

"No, my friend," Jor-El said, stepping from the side of his beautiful blonde wife towards his friend, placing a friendly hand on his shoulder. Placing his hand on General Zod's shoulder was an act of friendship, but it also served as an act of warning. "Science is the way of peace, something Krypton needs very much right now."

Turning to his wife, He reached forward and Lara by the hand. Together they departed from the chamber, walking past General Zod in the process. General Zod turned to watch his friend leave the chamber.

* * *

On the frigid surface of Krypton, no life could exist. There was no breathable air. There, embedded in the ever-stretching, smooth, icy shell was the pod that was launched by Darkseid's warship. The atmosphere was now clear from the massive battle that was once blazing above the planet. The pod laid there in silence, seemingly forgotten…or perilously ignored.

From inside the pod, a dark, deep breathing could be heard. Awakened from its slumber, it had one purpose in mind: the destruction of its intended target. With a terrifying roar and strength beyond comprehension, it took one punch to send the hatch flying off the hinges.

A giant grey hand was the first to experience the harshness of the bare Krypton environment. Any life form exposed to it would not survive for more than a minute, but this was no normal life form. The extreme temperatures of Krypton did not faze it in the least. The enormous hand clenched into a giant fist, revealing sharp, jagged bones for knuckles. Let the hunt begin.


	2. Catastrophe imminent

**Chapter 2: Catastrophe imminent**

Back in his element, Jor-El was back at his lab. Since the attack from Apokolips; the unsinking feeling that, something was out place, gnawed at him relentlessly. The whole battle just seemed off. The council just wrote it all off as another victory for their military forces, but Jor-El there was no intention to the battle, and that was what was off. Darkseid was extraordinarily intelligent, and not accustomed to losing. To be conqueror of so many planets and not be intelligent was implausible. Everything he did had a goal; so when this recent battle seemed to serve no point; that raised a red flag in his mind.

The first unsettling discovery he made in his lab was a disturbance on Krypton's surface. This obviously was no solid proof by any means that something was off. From what he could see, there was a small indentation on the planet's icy surface. There was no evidence of any contrivance or device that had hit the planet's surface, so anything could have happened from a meteorite to debris from one of the destroyed warships. If it was debris, then where did it go?

From what he could see, that was the only thing out of place on Krypton itself. That should have eased his nerves, but it did not. He expanded his search by secretly sending out a probe to Krypton's moon, and found nothing out of the ordinary.

"Jor-El?" Lara voice echoed through the lab. He could hear the tapping of her feet on the crystal floor. He looked back to see his wife approaching, holding in her arms their infant son, Kal-El. He was wrapped in a blue and red blanket. "I was beginning to miss you. You have spent all day in here."

"I apologize, my love," Jor-El bowed, taking her left hand and lifting it up to his lips. "I cannot get out of my mind that something is amiss since the attack. I just cannot put a finger on it."

"Maybe we caught a break, or maybe Lord Darkseid really was taken by surprise."

"Not likely. I'm convinced that there was more to the attack than it appears. For some reason, I'm now even more certain that something is right in front of me that I'm missing. What am I overlooking?"

"Jor-El, Come home with us. Do not let this eat away at you. Do not distance yourself in your work anymore."

"Distance! That is what I'm missing!" A terrifying thought shot into his mind. How could he have been so dull to miss it?

"What's it?"

Jor-El took a green crystal from several laying before him and smoothly slid it into one of the slots at his station. The room darkened; and a holographic image of Krypton, and its moon and sun, floated around the room. "I should have realized it when the probe took longer to reach the moon than I anticipated."

Kryptonian numbers began to scroll between Krypton and the moon and Krypton and the Sun. The results of his research brought sheer terror to Jor-El. The reaction of her husband deeply unsettled he. She had never seen such a reaction from her husband. "What is it?"

"I'm afraid Darkseid is the least of our problems. I must address the council immediately."

* * *

Jor-El presented his findings to the council. He did not know why he was surprised to see the disbelief in the faces of the members of the council, but he was. He continued his presentation non-the-less. "Krypton has been placed off of its orbit. Its new path will bring us ten thousand pasons from the sun, and the results will be catastrophic. There is no telling how long our planet has been off trajectory, but one thing is certain: we only have a matter of days before this planet explodes."

"If what you say is true, is there anything that can be done to avert this disaster?" One of the members asked.

"Not from what I can see."

"Council," one of the oldest members of the council left his platform to address the rest of his fellow members. He was the most respected amongst all members, and also happened to be the one who most disrespected Jor-El the most. "This is nothing more than another one of Jor-El fanatical theories. This theory, however, is far graver than any that have been brought before this council."

"With all due respect, Dor-Ki I can assure you that what I have brought to the attention of this council is all factual in nature." Jor-El knew that continuing with this could come at a heavy cost, but he was willing to pay that cost. The lives of everyone on this planet were at stake. If not for them, it was for his wife and child's well being.

"I think this council has indulged in your blasphemous practices for far too long. If it was not for your close relationship to General Zod, you would have been banished long ago."

"Insult me or banish me if the council so chooses, but the fact remains that Krypton is a time bomb. We must evacuate if our race is to survive." Jor-El continued to force the issue upon the council, probably sealing his fate.

"Enough!" Dor-Ki raised his voice louder than he had ever done for an exceedingly long time. "Let's settle this once and for all. This council calls forth Brainiac."

Instead of making a personal appearance this time, a green-tinted giant holographic image of Brainiac's head appeared high above everyone's head. With the image directly above Jor-El's head, he could not look up to face him personally.

"Brainiac, the council has been made aware of a situation. Jor-El claims that our plant is facing certain doom. Is our planet out of its normal orbit?"

Brainiac remained silent as it appeared he was doing the calculations in his mechanical head. Jor-El was convinced that Brainiac would come to the same conclusion. Jor-El's research was impeccable, and as soon as Brainiac's calculated the same data and confirmed the situation, the council will back down and beginning making plans for evacuation.

"My calculations are complete. Krypton remains on its normal orbit. There is nothing out of the ordinary to report."

"This is imposturous!" Jor-El snapped. "All calculations point to the contrary. This planet is dying!"

"Stop your ranting, Jor-El," a member of the council stood up from his seat. "Do not dishonor your family name like this. It is unbecoming of you."

"Dishonor my family name? I would be dishonoring my family name by remaining on this planet one minute longer."

"This council has had enough!" Dor-Ki spat vilely. "You shall be banished for this treason! You shall spend the rest of your days in the Phantom Zone; and may the family of –El be cursed for all eternity."

"If I may address the council!" General Zod raced into the council chambers. Jor-El wanted to tell his brother not to interfere, but he knew that it would do no good. Biting his lower lip, he remained silent. At the very least, maybe he could convince the council not to punish him. At the very least, they would strip him of his scientific responsibilities, but that did not matter now. He would use what time he had could to find a way off the planet for him and his family.

"General Zod, you are highly respected amongst this council, and it is common knowledge that you are close friends to Jor-El; but this time the council cannot turn a blind eye to this blasphemy any longer."

"Council of Krypton, I understand your anger towards Jor-El; and that on several occasions, upon my own request, you have shown him mercy. I humbly request that the council will do so one last time."

"What you ask is impossible. Jor-El will just continue to spread his lies to the general public and start a mass panic. Jor-El has become a threat to the civility of Krypton."

"I will take full responsibility for his actions. I will personally guarantee you that Jor-El will abide to the councils ruling on this matter. If he does not, you may banish me to the phantom zone as well."

The awkward murmuring amongst the council made it clear that they were decidedly reluctant to hold General Zod accountable for the actions of Jor-El. General Zod was their esteemed military general. The last thing they wanted was to dispel their best warrior to the phantom zone."

Since Dor-Ki was the one who had taken it upon himself to be the voice of the council, he was the one to proclaim the findings of the council once their murmuring came to an end. "Very well, General Zod; your request is granted." Dor-Ki looked towards Jor-El. "You are forbidden to step foot into any science lab. You are hereby stripped of your position in the science community. Any attempt by anyone in your family to leave krypton will result in your immediate banishment."

Jor-El pointed his nose upward in defiance. "I will abide by the council's decision. Neither I nor my wife will leave Krypton."

With the custom nodding of his head to show respect to the council, he turned and left the chambers. It was long after leaving when heard his friend calling out from behind him. "Jor-El, wait!"

Jor-El waited for Zod to catch up. He was not looking forward to this conversation. There was only so much false modesty Zod could handle displaying, and he knew Zod had gone beyond that point. "Thank you for your words of encouragement, Zod but…"

"No, Jor-El, you listen. I had to put my reputation on the line for you this time. What did you expect would happen by coming to the council with wild rants and absurd ideas? Do you have any idea what position that puts me in?"

"I'm afraid it is not the rants of a mad man, Zod. Krypton is dying. Brainiac is hiding this fact from the council."

"Have you gone mad, Jor-El? It is viewed upon as treason, by this council, to make such an accusation!" Zod was more furious than Jor-El had ever seen him. "And I would be the one who would be called to put you to death."

"My friend, when I have not been rational?"

"You're not being rational now!" Zod snapped. "I have put my military career on the line. You owe me, Jor-El."

It was clear that Zod did not believe him either. Of all the people he had hoped who would take his side, it was him. "You have my assurance, Zod. I will not utter a word to anyone about our doom."

Zod watched as his friend walked away from him. Just the act alone infuriated him. If he was capable of spontaneously combusting, he would be a raging inferno right then. His nostrils flared. "Jor-El, you WILL join me, or you too will kneel before me," he muttered to himself.

* * *

The events of day did not go well. Everything he worked hard for was being threatened by his old friend. Though it was a painful jab to his heart, it was not unexpected. Jor-El was the most brilliant mind on Krypton. On numerous occasions, his research has unknowingly thwarted several attempts by Zod to eradicate the Kryptonian council. After all, everyone on the council were morons.

During his times of war, Zod had come to understand one thing: free will was for the weak. The council's constant bickering rarely produced any results that benefited Krypton. What Krypton needed was a single, intelligent soldier like Zod to rule over Krypton with an iron fist. That is how Apokolips has endured all these year.

Jor-El discovery of what was happening once again had threatened everything. He had assurance that no one would realize that the planet was off course. That finding was supposed to be his. The council would have believed him over Jor-El. He could have convinced the council to begin evacuation. The council would be the first to go, and with every member of the council together in confined area, killing them all in one unfortunate explosion would have been easy. Now, however, Jor-El has brought the issue to the council, and now they would not believe the report even if Zod, himself, confirmed the report. Yet another attempt to rule over Krypton unwittingly denied him by his old friend.

Zod was mindful that no one followed him as he entered the room where Brainiac was stored. Connected to Krypton's natural crystal technology, Brainiac had access to most of the planet's resources. He was a complete android who sat on a metal chair which blended perfectly with the material that he was made off.

Brainiac swirled his head towards Zod robotically. "General Zod. Your visit is not a surprise, based on events that have unfolded here today."

"You assured me that no one would discover about the imminent disaster that you have set in motion."

"And no one would have if Lord Darkseid had not attacked. It is logical to presume that Jor-El was searching for his actual reason for attacking Krypton. The attack was unfortunately timed."

"Don't think me of being naïve, Brainiac," Zod spat. "I have not been made general of the Kryptonian military for no reason. "I know that there is something that you are keeping from me. I want to rule Krypton. You have promised me that."

Brainiac remained cold and unfeeling in his responses. "You shall be; however, your relationship to Jor-El has greatly impeded the efforts."

"My relationship with Jor-El is not of your concern," Zod replied, quickly tiring of this conversation. "Jor-El will join me as my right hand man, or he will kneel before me like everyone else. Can this situation be salvaged?"

"Negative. I shall return Krypton to its normal orbit. If you desire to be ruler of Krypton, you must deal with Jor-El beforehand."

"Believe me, he will be," Zod replied, more to himself than to Brainiac. With the brief meeting ended, he pranced out of the room, leaving Brainiac alone.

"Have you heard the conversation, Lord Darkseid?"

A holographic image of a dark, shadowy figure appeared in front of Brainiac. "I have. General's Zod has outlived his purpose a long time ago."

"I find it logical to keep him alive and close to me until we are certain that every last Kryptonian is destroyed."

"I will trust your judgment on the matter. Is everything else in order?"

"Affirmative. Krypton will explode in just days, but I fear that a certain individual will try to escapes beforehand having discovered our plot."

"It does not matter. I have sent a creature that will cause massive devastation within the few remaining days left of Krypton. Its intelligence is rather limited; so if you have any loose ties, you need to find a way to direct the creature to its target."

If Brainiac had emotions, he would be grinning at this news. "This may prove more beneficial than either of us could have hoped."

"I expect nothing less."


	3. The End is Near

**Chapter 3: The End is at Hand**

Just as Brainiac had calculated, the creature's vision was based on heat signature. He knew that it was one of many creatures that were bred on Apokolips for one reason only: utter destruction. It had little or no intelligence; it was only fueled by death and violence. Knowing this, he was able to coax it into a trap. It sought out anything living so it could cause death. Setting up an empty science lab with heat crystals, it was only logical that the monster thought there was life to be destroyed here. Of course, for all of its effort, it would not be completely disappointed. After all, he was curious about just what the creature was capable of. That was why he requested the service of a military soldier.

As requested, the soldier kept guard inside the lab, making sure Jor-El did not try to enter. He did not know that Jor-El was closely being watched by the council and was currently not an issue. The soldier had no idea what was coming his way.

Brainiac was able to detect the creature as it pounded its way through solid ice and crystal. It was nearing the lab. Krypton had been experiencing dozens of tremors the past few days, so the tremors caused by the violent pounding of the creature did not faze the soldier. A slight facial gesture showed that he was beginning to question whether the council was hiding something from him. When the quakes began, he had to convince the council that the tremors were a seasonal anomaly. He had to tell General Zod a whole different story: that the quakes were the result of the planet returning to its when in actuality it was nearing its destruction.

While the tremors did not invoke a drastic response, the shattering of the far wall did. Giant pieces of ice and crystal sprayed the entire lab, causing the soldier to flinch and look away to shield his eyes. Returning to his senses; his military training kicked into gear. He pulled out his white laser and pointed it towards the shadowy figure standing at the unnatural, newly-created lab entrance. Its heavy breathing, which would end in a blood-thirsty growl, could be heard throughout the deathly-silent lab.

"Show yourself intruder!"

Brave to the very end, Brainiac thought; though at second thought, it probably was not as much courage as it was naïveness. What was coming through that hole was death incarnate.

The monstrosity stepped out of the shadow towards the soldier. Brainiac was intrigued when he saw the creature almost completely covered. It wore green clothing; a color not really associated with Apokolips. It even wore a mask with red-lensed goggles. The only parts of the body not covered were its massive hands. Its thick and jagged bones pierced its gray, hide-like skin; and showed signs that the creature used them as deadly weapons. At a closer look, the bone pierced the skin just above each elbow. They came out so far; they looked more like spears than part of the creature's massive skeleton. Looking at the green cloth, Brainiac assumed there were many more piercings.

It was only after the creature stepped out of the shadows when the soldier began to realize that he was already dead. The beast was so tall; the soldier had only come up to its mid-chest region. It would take two or maybe three soldiers standing side-by-side just to match its massiveness. He fired his laser, hoping against all hope that a positive result would come out of it. The only effect that came from it was a hole burnt into the clothing and an angry roar from the beast.

He had no time to react as the monster charged with extraordinary speed. It swung at the soldier as if he was nothing more than an insect. Being machine, Brainiac knew the man was dead on impact. From just the impact, he assessed five bones were crushed, including his neck. The rest of the damage and broken bones came after the airborne lifeless body crashed into the wall, leaving a streak of red staining the white, crystal-ice wall.

The display of strength was unbelievable. After witnessing its ability, the time had come for Brainiac to make his move. Walking out of his hiding place in the corner, he made his way towards the creature.

It turned to face him, but was reluctant to do anything. It was clearly confused. Apparently it could also see movement.

As he continued his course towards it, it picked up an under-toning growl, which told him that its indecisiveness was coming to an end. It probably decided: alive or not, it was all relative.

That was when Brainiac stopped. The creature took a step towards him. That was when he made his move. He opened the top circle on his head; and a long, coiled, metal arm extended out towards the creature. Before it could come to its senses, the arm had successfully placed a round mechanical device on its forehead. When a tiny green light flashed from the device, the growling ceased.

"You are now under my control, beast. You will destroy what I want you to destroy and kill who I want you to kill."

Another tremor shook the planet, and this time the pressure had started to crack the foundations of the city. Time was just about up for this planet. He had to hurry to finish off loose ends and leave to avoid the shockwave that was to follow the explosion.

* * *

General Zod was ready to rip Brainiac apart limb-from-limb. With tremors growing in frequency and intensity, there was no doubt in General Zod's mind that Krypton was still out of orbit. Not only was it out of orbit, but he doubted Krypton had even a half day remaining. However, as he confronted the android, he was introduced to a promising new idea. Yes, Krypton was a lost cause, but with this beast that Brainiac captured, he can be the one to save his entire people from destruction. They will depend on him; and he would rule them, and rebuild a force strong enough to send Darkseid into hiding. There was only one piece to the puzzle that had to be taken care of, and based on the size of the last tremor; it had to be done quickly.

* * *

Jor-El did not have to turn to see who had entered his quarters. The strong tapping on the ground and strong presence that followed it was unmistakable. "Zod, I am afraid your timing is rather unfortunate."

General Zod entered his quarters and immediately noticed what would have looked like a large space meteorite. Upon closer inspection, Zod would find out that it was actually a small one-man space shuttle just big enough to hold a young child.

"I see you are defying the will of the council yet again, even after I put my life on the line." Zod's voice was surprisingly calm.

"I told the council that neither my wife or I would leave Krypton, and to that we are holding true. I made no promise for my son."

"You are a fool, Jor-El for thinking that you will be able to get away with this." Zod's flare began to show at last. "They probably already know what you are doing here and preparing for your banishment as we speak."

"Whatever the consequences my wife must pay, it will be worth it if saves the life of our son."

Another quake began to shake the foundations of the planet. The quake was so powerful, that Jor-El had to hold on to his station to stay on his feet. Zod had done the same thing. By the time the quake was over, there were new cracks on the floor and the ice-crystal walls. "This planet is going to explode at any moment. I do not fear what the council might do to me."

"That is exactly why I am here now."

Jor-El had thought he knew where this conversation was heading, but that last statement took it to a whole new, unexpected path. "What do you mean?"

"There is no more doubt that the council is leading us to our destruction. They are no longer fit to lead our people."

"Is this your hunger for power running rampant again?" Jor-El did not like the new course the conversation had taken.

"Listen to me Jor-El," Zod pleaded. "Come with me right now, and let us save our people. Let's lead them to another planet to escape the pending doom."

"You're forgetting about one thing, Zod: the council. Brainiac has them believing in false hope. They have become so lazy and dependant on Brainiac, that whatever Brainiac tells them, they do."

"Yes, Jor-El. The council has become irrelevant. Forget the council. They will not present a problem anymore."

The red flag went off for Jor-El. He knew his friend had always loved power and sought to gain more of it, but until just this moment, he had never crossed any legal or ethical stance. "Zod, what have you done?" All work that he was doing during the conversation came to an end. Zod had captured all of his attention.

"Let's just say the council is about to receive their rightful punishment for their crimes against the Kryptonian people."

Before Jor-El could answer, a gentle chime announced an incoming communication. General Zod stepped away from the center of the room as the holographic image of Dor-Ki appeared. "Jor-El, you have violated the will of the council, and openly defied our ruling. By doing so, you have committed treason to the highest degree."

"I have done no such thing," Jor-El replied, hoping for some sort of miracle that would buy him enough time.

"I don't want to hear it! You are to stay where you are. You are confined to your quarters until…"

Something sounding as a small explosion startled Dor-Ki. At first, Jor-El thought the last quake had caused an explosion in the council's chamber, but that was quickly eliminated when Dor-Ki's face showed sheer terror. "Dor-Ki?"

A deafening roar could be heard in the background as Dor-Ki backed out of Jor-El's view. For a few seconds, he could not tell if the transmission was cut off or not; but that was quickly resolved as a towering figure stepped into view. Its sight was set on Dor-Ki. He could hear all the members of the council scream in terror, but Dor-Ki's scream was the loudest as the colossal beast raised a fist. Thankfully, the connection was cut off, and the image of the monster disappeared.

An anger rose in Jor-El, a feeling that he was unaccustomed to feeling. In general, he was a low-temperament kind of man. Very little got under his skin. Getting angry seldom accomplished anything. "You have finally done it, Zod. You have finally crossed the line."

"You and I both know that they have jeopardized the lives of every Kryptonian. At this point, it is impossible to save every last person on this planet, and the blood of those people are on their hands." Zod replied. "Now join me, Jor-El. Let's save our people from destruction."

It would be a lie to say that the proposal did not appeal to him. Here was an opportunity to save his people from extinction; but to do it along side with Zod, who had just murdered the council? "I'm afraid you do not know me as well as you have thought. I love Krypton and everything about it. I will abide by my promise to the council despite their demise."

Zod's nostrils flared, and his veins pulsed. "You fool!"

"Jor-El?" Lara entered the quarters, holding Kal-El in her arms. Unaware of the situation, she went to respectfully walk past Zod to talk to Jor-El; when Zod's right hand shot up. Taking everyone by surprise, he clamped Lara's throat with enough force to just barley give her enough air to breath.

His low-temperament had quickly disappeared with such an action towards his wife. Despite her situation, Lara was able to keep hold of their baby; but was probably unintentionally squeezing the baby too hard, as Kal-El was bawling franticly. "Seeing that I already have blood on my hand; perhaps I should take the life of your wife and son, since they are the ones causing you to turn your back on me."

"Zod, have you gone mad? Has your lust for power no end?"

"For too long, I have sought to rid this planet of the council; so I may form a military government ruled by me. Too long have I allowed you to unknowingly stop me each and every time. You have no idea how many times you research interfered with my conquest."

"You are wrong," Jor-El replied. "I know exactly how many times you have tried to take power. All those interferences by me were very intentional."

Zod's breathing picked up. A mixture of shock and anger became evident when his face turned red. "You knew? Your purposely opposed me?"

"It was for the sake of our past friendship have I spared you the humiliation and banishment into the phantom zone. I now fear that it was an error of judgment on my part."

Zod's rage went through the roof. Lara grimaced as the very little air she was being allowed had been cut off. The ground once again began to shake. It was the miracle that Jor-El had been looking for. Zod had lost his footing; and as he did, lost his grip on Lara's throat. Jor-El had just enough footing to take advantage of the situation and lunged toward Zod. Lara stumbled backwards, luckily out of the way as Jor-El pushed Zod to the ground.

Zod hit the ground at just the right spot for this to work. Fighting against the quake, Jor-El stepped forward and grabbed his wife by the wrist. He pulled back towards the space shuttle and reached and reached for a button next to the ship. Before Zod could return to his senses, a clear-crystal wall cut the room in the half; separating them from Zod.

As the quake ceased, Zod jumped to his feet and promptly went to pounding on the new wall. "Jor-El!" The scream was that of a mad man. "Jor-El!"

"I'm sorry, my friend; this has to be. At least you will be saved from death." Jor-El said grabbing a red crystal from his station and sliding it into the only red slot amongst the many at that station.

The room dimmed as Zod's half of the room began to fill with blue lightning streaks. Zod's fists became flat as he slapped on the wall separating him from Jor-El. His pounding of anger had become slapping of desperation. "Jor-El, please; do not do this. I am sorry. We can still work together. We can save our people!"

Jor-El's low-temperament returned. No response from him came. It was hard enough to watch this as it was. Zod knew his silence was the answer to his desperate pleas. As a black hole began to appear in the room with Zod, Jor-El watched him change back to the man who he really was. "Mark my words, Jor-El! You can send me to the Phantom zone now, but not even that will be able to keep me! I will be back, Jor-El," Zod spat. "You may save your son from destruction; but when I return, I will seek him out and I will force him to kneel before me as you should have."

Jor-El remained silent as the black hole, which was actually a portal, gained full strength. Zod resisted the vacuum of the portal for a few seconds before the strength of the opening became too much and was sucked into the gateway to the phantom zone.


	4. The End of Krypton

**Chapter 4: The End of Krypton**

Brainiac had seen the whole thing from his shuttle, which was now heading off to a safe distance. Zod was a fool! He should have seen it coming. He had allowed his relationship with Jor-El to cloud his judgment; and as a result, he was now stuck in the phantom zone. That presented him with a problem. He had to make sure that every last Kryptonian perished. Yes, the planet was a matter of moments away from its demise, but he had to make sure that Jor-El did not finish that space craft for his child. There was just one way he could guarantee such was the case, and that assurance was already on its way to the rouge scientist.

* * *

Lara was shaken by the events that had transpired, but Jor-El did not have the luxury of time to contemplate what he had just done. The shuttle was now complete and was he was now preparing it for launch. He was now putting in crystals that he hoped that his son would, one day use, to study the history of Krypton.

Lara was cradling Kal-El in her arms, still crying over the ordeal that had taken place. "Why must we send him to Earth? It is a primitive planet. Their yellow sun will make him stand out from them."

"He will need that advantage to survive. The people of Earth will need that advantage as well." Jor-El knew that if he sent his son to Earth, Darkseid would eventually track him to earth. Once Darkseid learned of Earth and its ample natural resources, he would take his fleet of war ships there.

He could feel her fear of losing her son. What mother would not be feeling the same under similar circumstances? "We will always be with him. After we are gone, Kal-El will be able to communicate to our images as if we were there with him. In some small way, we will be a part of his upbringing. What is important is that we will be there when he needs us the most."

Lara nodded in agreement. The ground once again shook violently. Jor-El had to catch his wife on quick reflexes. The white-crystal walls and ground cracked as the quake continued to pick up strength. This time, the quake was not ending. Jor-El ushered Lara to the shuttle where she gently placed her child in the shuttle. Jor-El covered the baby with a glittering, gray blanket to keep the baby warm. "This shuttle will keep him in suspended animation. He should remain the same age until he is awakened on planet Earth. Someone will find him and adopt him into their family. There, he will grow up until the appropriate time." He nearly had to shout to his wife over the roaring of the quake.

The crystal door across the room shattered, but it was not from the quake. The doorway crumbled at the height of the monstrous creature as it stormed into the room. Jor-El had just shut the hatch of the shuttle in time before the beast had entered. Its green clothing had fresh red stains on them.

Jor-El stepped in front of his wife, in what he knew would be a futile attempt, to protect his wife. He had to find a way to launch the shuttle, but he knew any sudden moves would result in his immediate death. He could not defend his wife and launch the shuttle, and his heart was torn in half. The one thing he certainly could not do was stand there and wait for death to come.

As the beast stared at them through its red lenses, he noticed the device planted on the head of the beast. There was no mistaking that the creature originated from Apokolips, but there was also no doubt who was currently controlling it. "Brainiac. Just as I suspected."

* * *

From a safe distance, Brainiac watched as fissures developed on the planet's surface. The end of Krypton had at last come. An eruption of snow and ice exploded from a newly formed vent on the surface.

* * *

The quake had intensified considerably instantly. Neither Jor-El or his wife was able to stay on their feet. The creature stumbled, but kept its footing. A crystal pillar collapsed towards the beast at the sudden intensification of the quake. With one swing of an arm, the pillar shattered into countless number of pieces.

Jor-El desperately took this only chance to crawl to the shuttle to launch it. Lara's scream told him that he was not going to make it. He looked to the creature to see it had turned its attention towards him. It took one step towards him, but its step had landed on a crack, which immediately gave under its weight. The ground crumbled beneath the creature as the crack was actually a forming fissure. The echoes of the beast howling could be heard; as it fell, to its demise, down to the planet's core.

Thankful for the miracle, he quickly pulled himself up to his feet and placed a hand on the shuttle's hull. It came to life as it let out a high-pitch hum. The shuttle started rising upward to towards the glass ceiling over their heads.

Jor-El reached down and helped Lara to her feet. His job was done. All he could do was hope the shuttle had enough to time to escape the explosion. Holding Lara in his arms, he and his wife watched the shuttle rise until it shattered through the ceiling.

With the Shuttle now flying towards space; Jor-El turned Lara around, so he could stare into her eyes one last time. The fissure began to swell and commenced feeding on everything in the room.

* * *

The planet crumbled before his eyes. Fire from the planet's heart rose from the fissures. It was an impressive sight. Brainiac had been built for this very purpose; and now at long last, his reason for being was now at an end. All there was left was to enjoy the benefit of his labor.

The view was better than he had anticipated. Krypton's demise was happening faster than he calculated. In the distant background, the bright red sun continued to shower its intense radiation upon the doomed ice planet which was only a quarter of its size. After days of soaking the poison from the sun, it could take it no longer. Krypton exploded into billions of blue-burning space debris. From this distance, as he calculated, he was safe from the shockwave. All he felt was a little turbulence.

His attention was pulled towards a meteorite racing past his shuttle at super speed. The shockwave only helped push it faster from where Krypton had just been. His computerized brain had enough time to analyze that the meteorite was made of materials not originally found on Krypton. There was only one thing that it could have been. "Jor-el," Brainiac said out loud. His mission had failed.


	5. Earth's New Arrival

**Chapter 5: Earths New Arrival**

He had misjudged the time it would take to accomplish everything he had wanted to do. Jonathan Kent had not anticipated the traffic when entering Smallville; that would prove the most damaging to his plans. Finding a parking spot was the next; followed by the long line at the coffee shop. In hindsight, he should have forgone the coffee. At least the trip to the flower shop went by fast.

Today was the highly anticipated meteor shower. This was not just your typical meteor shower. These meteors were passing through earth's atmosphere, making them clearly visible in daylight. An event like this happened less than a handful of times in earth's history where the meteors came so close that they could be seen despite the sunlight. The event had attracted scientists and thrill seekers alike. Even though most of the meteorites were expected to burn up in the atmosphere, that did not stop some people from hoping to be lucky enough for a souvenir.

Heading out of Smallville proved to be a much easier task. He was pretty much the only one leaving town. He pushed his red Toyota pick-up as hard as he dared without the possibility of being pulled over. Yes, he was a friend of the sheriff, and that went a long way; but that did not give him the license to break the wall. Jonathon was a stickler for the law. He was one of the biggest contributors to the Smallville police department. As a result, the police were often willing to cut the Kents slack. Jonathon would never take advantage of that.

His farm was only a few miles on the outskirts of Smallville. The dust rose from beneath the tires of the pick-up truck as he pulled into his extended driveway. Up ahead was his home and barn; both were made by his father many years ago. His father had built this homestead by the sweat of his own brow and not through some hired construction company.

He parked right in front of his front porch. He quickly climbed out of the truck and ran up the two steps up onto the front porch when something hit him. "The flowers!" He quickly rack back to his truck to grab the flowers on the passenger seat. He rushed back up to the porch. The screen door groaned as Jonathon threw it open. "Martha?"

Entering from the front door, he was now in the living room. Their home was very antiquated and simple. Jonathon was opposed to new technology because people became too lazy and dependant on technology.

Martha was not in the living room. Across the living room, through a duel-sized doorway, was the dining room with a handmade table made for six. Jonathon had a knack for carpentry and made the table with his own bare hands. When he made the table, he had anticipated having several children who would take-up the empty spaces. That dream had not become a reality.

"I'm in the kitchen," Martha's voice called out.

Jonathon walked around the couch, into the dining room and turned right through the single-sized doorway into the kitchen. Martha was finishing up washing the last of the lunch-dishes and was now drying her hands on a green hand towel. The kitchen was one of the smallest rooms in the house. There was barely enough room for the two of them to stand next to each other.

Martha looked up and saw the flowers in his hands and was able to give him a slight smile. He handed her the flowers, just happy to get that faint smile that he did. Without showing any more emotion; she commenced looking for a vase, for the flowers.

"Don't worry about the flowers. How about you and I go find a special spot and watch the meteor shower."

"I don't feel like it," she replied as she found the vase, and began filling it with water.

"Martha," He walked up from behind her and placed his hands on both of her shoulder. "I think getting out of the house will do us both a world of good right now."

Martha's response continued to be cold as she put the flowers in the water. "I don't wanna go out, Jonathon."

He turned her around to face her, clasping her upper arms. "Forget about what the doctor says; we are going to have a child. I promise you: we will make this happen. We will prove him wrong."

Martha remained unresponsive, but he could tell that he was starting to get through to her. "Come with me. Let's get our minds of this for just a little bit. A miracle is coming to Smallville, and maybe we may just experience one, ourselves."

The meteor shower had already begun as they were on the road towards town. So instead; they pulled off to the side of the road, next to a large corn field. Jonathon and Martha stood on the outskirts of the young cornfield looking up at rare phenomenon.

Jonathon wanted to help her feel as secure as possible. Ever since the doctor's visit the day before, she had no desire to see anyone. She had become reclusive. It took almost everything he had to get her out of the house. The least he could do is to try to make her feel a little better. Standing behind her, he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on top of her head.

They watched the flaming meteorites rip across the sky, leaving behind streaks of smoke. He could feel the tension, from the thoughts of their situation, subside gently. "Wow." One of the largest meteorites, up to that point, had lit up the sky; and even Martha, in her reluctant state, had to be impressed with that display.

"Hey Jonathon?"

"Yea?" Jonathon replied, still focused on the fiery display in the sky.

"Is it just me or is that meteorite coming towards us?"

"Honey, I think we're perfectly…" As he looked in the same direction as his wife, he saw exactly what she was talking about. A giant fireball was coming right at them; and it was not burning up in the atmosphere like everything else. "Get down!"

Jonathon just barley had enough time to pull his wife to the ground with him. The heat was intense as the meteorite passed right over them, barely skimming the top of their truck. For a split second; he thought they were as good as dead, but as the meteorite passed, the intensity of the heat quickly diminished.

Cornstalks waved before the meteorite. Jonathon used his arm to shield Martha's face. He looked away as dirt and cornstalks swept over them like a sand storm in the desert. Even on top of his wife, Jonathon could feel the earth tremble at the impact.

In as fast as the whole event started; the dust had settled, and calmness pursued. Partly covered in chopped-up and burnt cornstalks, Jonathon cautiously got back up onto his feet. Helping his wife to her feet, he looked around. He had hoped for a magical moment, but this was not what he had in mind.

"Do you believe this?" All of Martha's problems had taken a back seat. She was in shock as much as he was, glancing around at the devastation. The meteorite had left a burnt trail in the cornfield. A few of the stalks were still burning near where the meteorite had landed.

"I'd better call the sheriff," Jonathon said. He opened the passenger side door and reached for the receiver of his CB radio. "Sherriff Watson, are you there? This Is Jonathon Kent, over."

After a half-minute, the sheriff's voice came over the other end. "This is Sherriff Watson. I'm a little busy right now, Mr. Kent."

"I think you should know that a large meteorite has made landfall in old Mr. Landau's cornfield. Over."

"Repeat that? Over."

Jonathon was about to repeat when he noticed his wife was totally mesmerized by the charred crater further into the cornfield. He was not entirely sure she even knew that she was walking towards the crater. "Hey Martha, maybe that's not such a good idea!" She did not answer. Whatever had her mesmerized, kept her from hearing him. "Martha?"

"Repeat your last statement. Over." Sherriff Watson repeated over the radio.

"Hold for a minute. Over." Jonathon dropped the receiver and chased after his wife. "Hey Martha!"

She was nearing the crater, and the first thing that came across Jonathon's mind was her health. He had no knowledge of astrology; so he had no idea if meteorites produced some kind of radiation, or not. "Martha, be careful. That meteorite could be dangerous!"

"Jonathon, come here quick!"

The urgency of her voice only fed his drive to save her from harm. "Martha?" He joined her at the crater and pulled her back when he saw what she was staring at.

His jaw dropped. His eyes had to be playing tricks on him. There in the crate was a child wrapped in a glittery-silver cloth inside some sort of futuristic, high-tech basket. There had to be a logical explanation for this; though he could not think of one, at that moment.

Martha had scooped the baby out of the basket before he could even object. The baby remained remarkably calm as it opened its dark blue eyes. "I think it's a boy." She said; going through the fabric to confirm her suspicions. "It's a boy."

Jonathon was still at a loss for words. Still inside the basket were at least a dozen of, what looked like, large crystals. All of them were clear except for one green crystal which stood out from the rest. Almost without thinking, he reached in and picked-up the green crystal . These crystals were not from earth, and that disturbed him the most.

All logical explanations were thrown out the window. This baby was not from this world. He was way beyond his comfort level. He knew his comfort level was going to have to go to a whole new level when he looked into the eyes of his wife.


	6. Meet Clark Kent

**Chapter 6: Meet Clark Kent**

Years had gone by since the life-changing day. Jonathon had tried to make Martha see reason; but once she held the baby in her hands, there was no saying no to that woman. They had begun the process of adopting the child. Of course, they could not tell the government that they found the child in a space ship from another world. Instead, they had told them that the child was left at their front door step. After months of doing research, they had not been able to find anyone else who claimed to be his real parents; which the Kents knew they would fail. That cleared the way for adopting the boy; who was, at that point, one year old. At least, that is what Jonathon and Martha had anticipated. They had to make-up a birthday for him and give him a name. Martha came up with: Clark.

Clark was now twelve years old. Enrolled at Smallville Junior High, he proved to be supremely intelligent. He was the top of his class; and like any other smart kid, was the subject of immense teasing. Clark was teased quite a bit, but bullying was not actually an issue for him. He was taller and more buff than any of the other kids in his grade. As a result, bullies were very intimidated of him.

The glasses Clark wore did not help things any. No one realized that the glasses were fake. He wore them, more so, for the support of a friend. One time, Clark went to his father and told him about his friend who had an extremely rare condition called Hallermann-Streiff syndrome. As a result, he was shorter than everyone in his class, and had to wear glasses. Clark wanted to make his friend feel better with all the intense bullying he was receiving. Impressed by his compassion; his father suggested wearing glasses just like his friends, and that is just what Clark did.

For a young boy, Clark more mature than most kids his age. The teasing did not bother him in the least, and he had more sympathy for people than most people three times his age. There was another perk that came with his personality; at least, it would become a bigger advantage one day. This characteristic was exceedingly pleasing to the opposite sex. Being just past the coodies phase, there was one, in particular, girl in Clark's class that liked him. Her name was Lana Lang. During class, he would look over his shoulder to catch her staring at him. After quickly realizing she had been staring, she would turn away and pretend as if nothing happened.

After lunch came recess. Clark rushed to get to the door leading to the playground. As he got out, he saw that the playground was already full of kids from other grades. He walked amongst all the chaotic play to find his friend. Clark had recently discovered that he had better than average hearing. If he concentrated hard enough, he could drown out every single voice to find the one voice amongst almost a hundred kids.

Using his talent, he eliminated everyone near the swings, because most of the kids there were girls. Next he focused on the jungle gym, but he did not recognize any of the voices there. He did not even bother with the hopscotch area. He then picked up on a group of kids cheering. Those voices he knew belonged to the bullies of the school. He could also hear a kid grunting, as if he had taken a punch in their gut.

That was where his friend was. "Hey!" Clark called out to them as he ran towards the group of bullied.

They looked back to see him coming at them. "Beat it, it's Supernerd!"

Even though there were five of them, none of them wanted to deal with Clark. They ran away, running back into the school building. Reaching his friend, he picked up the glasses and handed it back to him. Another unfortunate symptom of his syndrome was the inability to grow anybody hear whatsoever, including his scalp. With the black, plastic-framed glasses; his size; and his naked scalp, he would always receive the brunt of all the bullying in the school. "Are you okay, Lex?"

Lex Luthor put on the glassed Clark handed back to him as he looked up at him. His face was streaked with tears, and his lip was swollen and bloody. "I really hate those kids, Clark."

"They're just afraid of us, that's all," he replied.

Lex stood to his feet, gently felt his swollen lip, and looked down at the blood on his fingers. "I can't let my dad see this, or he'll kill me."

"Your dad can't be that bad."

"You don't know him, Clark. You really don't know my dad."

The school bus pulled up to the dirt road leading to the farm. From there, Clark would walk the rest of the way to the farm. He was glad the school was over. It had not been a very good day. After recess, he helped his friend, Lex to the nurse's office. For the most part, the nurse treated his busted lip to the point that it was hardly noticeable, but Lex was still afraid of what his father was going to say. All throughout the day, he hoped everything would be okay, but in the end, he still suspected that Lex would be in school tomorrow to say that everything went well.

Clark walked off the bus and ran down the dirt road. Every day, after getting off the bus; he enjoyed running as fast as he could to the farm, and timing himself. Every day, he tried to beat his time. His race would end the moment he ran into the front door. There was an antique, grandfather clock in the living room which Clark would use as his timer. Up to this point, his fastest time was five minutes.

As he started running, he knew immediately that he was leaving his old record in the dust. It was impossible for him not to notice how fast he was going. It was almost frightening. The tall, knee-high grass, beside the dirt trail, swayed behind him. A trail of dust followed him, reaching almost ha high as he was.

He passed their fertile ground which had been recently plowed by his father before making a sudden turn to the left for his home. In a blink-of-an-eye, he was in the living room with the screen door slamming behind him. Not even breathing heavily, he looked at the clock. "Three and a half minutes!" Clark cheered.

"What's that?" his mother asked from the kitchen.

Clark ran through the dining room into the kitchen, where his mother was working on dinner; and his sweat-drenched father was chugging a glass of lemonade.

"I just ran all the way from the bus to here in three and a half minutes!"

"That's nice." Clark was so excited, that he did not perceive that she was only being polite, and did not actually believe him.

His father, on the other hand, did not even pretend to hide his doubt. "Son, how many times have I told you not to exaggerate? Exaggerating is the same as lying, in this house hold."

"But, Dad…"

"My name is not Buttdad," Jonathon countered.

"Dad, I'm not exaggerating!"

"Clark…" Jonathon raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir," Clark conceded. With the raised eyebrow, the matter was as good as dropped.

He turned and headed back towards the dining room. "Clark, come with me outside." Jonathon put his glass in the sink and put a hand on his shoulder. The two of them headed for the front door. "I need you to feed the chickens and then sweep the upper level of the barn before dinner."

Clark sighed. He almost complained to him, but he realized that it would not do anything other than agitate his father further. "Yes, sir."

"Hold up Jonathon!" Martha walked up to them from behind.

"Go on ahead out, and I'll be out in a second." Jonathon patted him on the back.

Clark nodded and made his way to the screen door.

"Can you run down to the vegetable stand and buy some tomatoes?"

"No problem, honey." He gave her gentle peck on the face.

"I'll get the tomatoes!" Clark volunteered. The vegetable stand was only a mile down the road. Maybe this was his opportunity to show his parents how fast he could run. Getting out of his chores would not hurt either.

"By yourself? I don't think so, Son. Go on and do your chores."

_So much for that idea_. Defeated in his attempt to get out of his work, he used both hands to push the screen door open. Instead of swinging open like always; the door flew off its hinges violently, and flew all the way to the barn. The screen door shattered into three pieces as it hit the red tractor door.

Clark's body tensed up. His teeth were clenched so tight, he was afraid some of his teeth would break. He had no desire to turn to face his parents; he could only imagine what their reaction would be. Unfortunately, he knew he would have to face the wind and accept any punishment given to him despite the fact that he had no intentions of doing what he had just done, nor knew how he even did it.

He slowly turned around, and tried to produce the most innocent looking face he could muster. Both his parent's jaws were dropped. He had never seen them this shocked before in his life. "I suppose this means no allowance this week?"

His parents both looked at each other, not quite sure what to make of what they had just seen. It was his mother that broke the silence. "Oh, it's time for the talk."


	7. The Birth of Evil

**Chapter 7: The Birth of Evil**

Clark just could not concentrate on school the next day. His mind was racing with everything that his father had revealed to him yesterday. It still sounded preposterous. As much as it hurt, he could handle the fact that he was adopted. What he could not handle was that there was the possibility that he was not even from this planet. How could anyone believe such a strange thing? It had to be some kind of practical joke played on his parents.

Everything was still rolling around in his head, as he walked down the school hall. He was nearing his classroom, when an eighth grader stepped in front of him. Clark still toward over him, since he was about the size of a high-school teenager, but that did not stop this bully.

This particular bully was pretty much the most popular kid amongst all the bullies. His name was Johnny Corben. He was loud-mouth, disruptive kid in the eighth grade. He probably spent most afternoons, afterschool, in detention. Not much was known about his parents, though. Rumors were that they were divorced, and that his father was a security guard, by night; and drunk out of his mind, by day.

Whatever his situation was, it appeared that he was going to be the first bully to test the boundary that they had set for themselves, regarding Clark. "Hey, Supernerd!"

The irony of a smaller kid trying to bully a taller kid did not escape him, but Clark was just not in the mood for this. "I'm really not in the mood, Johnny."

"What's the matter, dork? I don't think you're all that scary." He was trying to find a nerve, to get Clark to respond.

"Not now, Johnny," Clark's temper was flaring, but was still able to keep his emotions at bay. His father had always taught him to never let other kids get under his skin.

"You're always sticking up for that bald-headed dweeb, but who's gonna' stick up for you? I don't think you're as tough as you look." He tried to shove him, but it was like trying to shove a brick wall. Clark hardly felt a thing. He tried harder, but to no avail.

"Are you done now?" Clark asked, raising his right eyebrow.

That only infuriated Johnny. He hated to be embarrassed in front of his friends who were watching from a distance. "You're dead!" He no longer cared if he was caught by the principal; no one was going to make him look stupid in front of his friends. He went for an amateurish right hook, probably learned from watching boxing on television.

Without even flinching, Clark raised his right hand and caught Johnny's fist in mid-jab. "You should thank me. I just saved you from breaking your hand."

Johnny snapped his arm back, rubbing his fist. "Geez, you are a freak." Johnny walked away in retreat.

Thankful that it was over, Clark headed towards his classroom.

* * *

Recess could not come soon enough. Clark was just glad there were no pop quizzes today, because his mind was everywhere except the classroom. After eating his bologna sandwich alone, he went outside to the playground and sat on the bench. He watched as all the kids played and enjoy their thirty minutes of freedom. His mind was too busy for play right now.

"Clark!" Lex came, out of nowhere, to meet him at the bench. "Good news, my father didn't notice my lip."

"What? Oh, that's good," Clark replied coldly.

Lex knew something was wrong. "What's wrong?"

"Last night, my dad told me that I'm adopted," Clark responded.

"Oh, bummer," Lex said, not sure what to say. "Sometimes I wish I was adopted." Lex looked down, recounting all the times he had wanted to run-away. "Anyway, may this will take your mind off things a little."

Lex pulled out a pocket size steel case and handed it to Clark.

"What is this?"

"I took it from my dad's desk." Actually, everything did not go as well for him last night as he had told Clark. His father immediately noticed his lip and tried to get him to tell him what happened. When he refused, he cursed him out and said he was worthless. That was one of the most painful things his father had ever said to him. As revenge, he 'borrowed' this artifact off of his desk to show his friend. "I wanted to show you this. It's a space rock. It's the coolest thing I've ever seen!"

Clark flipped the lid open, and a feeling of nausea hit him like a ton of bricks. There was nothing vulgar about the rock; in fact, it looked rather magnificent with its glowing green attributes. Whatever was sweeping over him, had nothing to do with the glowing space rock; or so he thought.

His nerves felt as if they were burning, and the intensity was only getting worse by the second. Clark grunted, finding it extremely difficult to breath. Lex saw the instant change. "Clark, what's wrong?"

"I-I don't know," Clark gasped, dropping the case with the glowing space rock. Overtaken by the pain, he slipped off the bench and curled into a ball. "It hurts!"

Lex was at a lost. He had no idea what brought this on. The only thing he could conclude was it had something to do with the space rock. Lex quickly reached down and put the space rock back into the steel case and locked it. The moment the steel case was shut, the pain ravishing Clark's body had disappeared.

Lex was relieved when Clark uncurled himself and climbed back up onto the bench just as if nothing had happened. "What was that?"

"I don't know," Clark admitted. "Must have been something in that space rock that I'm allergic to."

"There you are!" An adult, male voice said; standing out amongst all the kid's clamoring. Cutting through the sea of playing children was a man dressed in a very luxurious, business suit.

"Oh no," Lex cried under his breath, completely frightened out of his wits. The man walking towards them was his father.

Lionel Luthor was a man to be feared and respected. Not to do so would come at a high price. His perfectly groomed red hair bragged of his hard-fought status in life. There was a hint of grey in his thick, red goatee which highlighted his superior intelligence. Everything about this man shouted that he was better than everyone else.

His face was as cold as ice as he stormed toward the two boys. Both boys were now on their feet. There was something about his arrival that caused Clark to side-step away from Lex a few steps. "I think you have something of mine, do you not?"

"Yes, sir," Lex was too scared to look his father in the face. All he could do was give his father the steel box containing the space rock.

"Sir, he only wanted to…" Clark found the courage to come to his friend's defense.

"Shut your trap, boy!" Lionel snapped; his icy green eyes shot towards him.

Clark complied, afraid to say another word. Lex had said that his father was scary, but he never imagined him to be this awful.

His attention returned to his son. "So, you resort to stealing from your old man, do you?"

"No, sir," Lex replied just before the stinging of a violent slap came across his face; leaving a red hand print behind.

The blow was so hard, in caused Clark to shiver. He was powerless to do anything about this. Lex's face was already moistened from his tears. "Are you going to lie to me again, boy?"

"Excuse me, sir!" A teacher who was supervising all the kids saw what was happening and immediately ran to come to the rescue of the boy. "I don't care who you are, but…"

"Woman, you better start caring," Lionel growled towards her. "I am this boy's father, and I will do to him what I want. I have the money and the power to get you and your husband fired from your jobs. I can blacklist you two all across this country. I will have you living out in the streets, before you can even blink an eye. Unless you want to be living in a cardboard box, having to sell yourself for services to desperate, young business men; you will keep out of my family business."

Never had Clark seen a teacher get torn into like that. The teacher was shivering uncontrollably. She wept as she turned and ran into the school building.

Before returning his attention back to his son, Lionel glanced over Clark, seemingly inspecting him visually. "Who is this boy?"

"My-my-my friend," Lex stuttered.

"Wait a minute, I know you. You are the Kent's boy." Just when Clark though he could not get any angrier, he was wrong. "You become friends with the son a farming peasant! Do you realize how bad this would look for me? Do you have any idea, whatsoever?"

Lex flinched, getting ready for another hard slap which nearly came. Lionel stopped himself, figured that he had embarrassed himself long enough; airing his dirty laundry in public. "This is my fault. I wanted to save myself money by not having to pay for your education, but now I see that was a mistake."

Lionel grabbed Lex by the arm. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Lex cried as his father's grip was so tight, he was afraid his bone would shatter.

"I'm sending you away to private school, and getting you away from this riff raff."

Clark watched with tears flowing from his eyes as his best friend was being dragged off. His heart was breaking as he knew that he would never see him again. Lex was looking back towards him with apologetic eyes, and a tear-soaked face. He, too, knew the same thing.

* * *

Lex did not want to enter the mansion; he knew what would happen the moment they were in. The same way he was dragged to the limo, he was being dragged out of it. There was no use resisting; his father was too strong.

The giant, oak-wood, double-doors were opened for them by one of Lionel's men. His father threw him into the giant entry with such force; he tripped over his own feet and fell to his side.

"Get up, boy, and take your punishment like a man."

"I'm-I'm sorry, Dad!" he pleaded to his father, as he slowly got back up onto his feet.

His response was another swift slap across the face. "You are an embarrassment to me, boy." Another slap across the face caused his lip to start bleeding again. "Why do the gods torment me with such a pathetic excuse of a son?"

His father delivered an even harder blow. Lex could not hold back the tears, which he knew was causing his father to continue hitting him. "You are weak. You are not worthy to be a Luthor!"

His father was not stopping. His face had become so numb, that the sting of the slaps were losing their intensity. That was when something snapped inside of Lex. It was something he never knew he had within him. Like a caged animal suddenly let loose, he screamed and delivered two quick punches to his father's abdomen. The two punches forced Lionel forward. Before Lex came back to his senses, he was able to deliver one last jab; this time, square in the face.

The anger quickly receded after he saw what he had just done to his father. The rage quickly turned to fear when his father regained his posture. Lionel pulled out a white handkerchief from his chest pocket of his jacket. After gently dabbing the handkerchief on his lower lip, he looked down on it see his own blood.

This was it. Lex knew that he was dead. He knew he should be running for his life right about now; but he was so scared, his legs would not comply. He expected a wallop like no other, but instead, his father just chuckled. "Perhaps I was wrong. Perhaps there is some hope for you after all."

Lionel put the handkerchief back in pocket. When his hand came back out, it held the steel case that contained the space rock. He tossed it to Lex who barley caught it. "Keep it."

Lionel turned to walk up the spiral staircase on the right side of the giant foyer. As he walked up, he spoke loud enough for his voice to echo through the whole foyer. "You're going to learn that whatever you want in life, you have to take it by force. If there is something standing in your way…destroy it."


	8. Growing up in Smallville

**Chapter 8: Growing up in Smallville**

"That is completely reprehensible," his mother replied. Clark had never seen her mother get riled up like this before. She usually was the most mild-mannered person he knew. "Anyone who treats their son like that should be burned at the stake."

"There's no hiding it: Mr. Luthor's a poor excuse for a human being," his father added. "I'm sorry, Clark. I wish there was something we could do for Lex, but the law is on Mr. Luthor's side."

Clark had a feeling he was going to say that, but that brought him no comfort at all. His best friend had been taken away from him. He was never going to see him again. Now he was all alone in junior high school. He was not afraid of the bullies like Johnny Corben. He was pretty sure his increasing abilities would protect him; it was more a matter of moral support.

"I'm sorry, Clark," his mother tried to comfort him with a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen son," his father said, sitting down at the table with him. Something told Clark that he was about to change subjects. "The last two days have been real hard on you. I've come to a decision. Every afternoon, after school, you and I are going to spend some time exploring your gifts."

"What?" he did not know what to make of this news. It sounded a lot like more work.

"You have special gifts, Clark. You can never use those gifts off this farm. No one, outside the three of us, is to know about these gifts."

"Why?"

"Over time, you'll understand," his father replied.

Clark saw him nodding to his mother who, in turn, left the kitchen. She was only gone for a second when she returned. On the table in front of him, she placed two baseball mitts and a baseball. "What's this?"

His father smiled. "Part of your training. Not only that, but it will sever as a little father-and-son time. So how about it son? Up for some catch?"

* * *

At first, Clark did not understand how playing catch was considerd 'training'. After awhile, though, the answer came to him. While playing catch, he and his dad would talk about a vast array of topics. One time, while playing catch, they talked about Lex, and how much he missed his friend. As the talk progressed, Clark started to get emotional. As his emotions started to grow, he had lost control of his strength and threw the ball too hard. His father was lucky to leap out of the way as the ball sailed past him, and continued flying for another two miles. That was when he knew the truth. Playing catch was more than a father and son bonding, it was a training exercise to be able to control his strength under stress.

To exercise his super speed, Clark continued to do what he had always done. The moment he would get home from school, he would race home after the bus had left. His times were getting better and better as time went by.

Other abilities had come through the years, as well. Most, Clark had to deal with alone. The one that disturbed him the most, was the red laser beams from his eyes. When that power manifested itself, there was lots of chaos in the Kent's house. He quickly learned how to manage that power, but that ability scared him the most. The ability that disturbed his parents the most, was his ability to see through anything.

The talent he liked the most was discovered entirely by accident. Helping his father out on the farm, Clark was on the second level of the barn. He was clearing the way for haystacks when a coon startled him. Clark stumbled back and fell off the ledge. Instead of falling and seriously hurting himself, he hovered high above the ground. His father was even more surprised by this discovery than he was. As time went by, he learned that it was more than just hovering he could do. He could full-out fly.

Learning to fly was not hard, but keeping himself grounded proved to be the hard part of the training. He had fallen in love with flying so much, that he wanted, so much, to take to the sky and fly high above Smallville. He dreamed of it, but his father had warned him that doing so could expose himself to the world.

Clark was fourteen at the time. He began to question his training. If he had been given all these gifts, why could he not use them? Why did he have to hide them? His father tried to explain it to him countless number of times, but like a typical young teenager, he questioned the rules he was forced to live by.

Now, Clark was eighteen and a senior in high school. On the cusp of being a man, he could now look back at all the rules and regulations put forth by his father, and see that he was right about everything. He now recognized his 'gifts' as powers that were not to be abused. He still struggled about his destiny, though. He felt he had a calling on his life; but to what, he did not know.

Despite having full control over his powers, he still enjoyed spending time with his Dad playing catch for an hour every couple days. He enjoyed talking to him about everything, including his girl friend: Lana Lang. Life could not be any better!

"Are you gonna just stand there, or are you gonna throw me the ball?" his father laughed.

"Oh, Sorry Dad," Clark answered back, throwing the ball above his head. The ball flew to his father at a reasonable speed and allowed him to make the catch in front of his face.

"Are you excited about graduating from high school this year?" His father asked, tossing the ball back to Clark.

"A part of me is. A part of me is kinda' nervous."

"Nervous about entering an unfamiliar part of life? Been there before. So how did your interview with the Sherriff Morriston go?"

"Very good," he responded, catching another tossed ball. Clark had been a member of the high school journalist team since his freshman year. He discovered his passion to write. He had joined the school's journalist team to help write the school newspaper. It did not hurt that Lana Lang was part of the journalist team. "I'm going to write up the article tonight after my date with Lana. Speaking of which, It's time for me to pick up Lana. Can I borrow the pick-up tonight?"

His father laughed. Pulling the mitt off and tucking it under his left arm, he reached into his right pock and pulled out the keys to his red pick-up truck. "Here you go." He tossed the keys over to Clark who barehanded the keys in midair.

"Thanks, Dad," Clark said as he jogged up to his father. Together, they made their way home.

"Now remember: no fooling around. Do you understand me? I was your age too, once."

Clark laughed. "No fooling around: I promise."

"Now get going. Don't ever keep a woman waiting."

* * *

Martha heard the engine of the pick-up truck first before hearing the moan of the screen door. Reading a book in the living room, she looked up to see her husband enter holding both baseball mitts. "Is Clark going somewhere?"

"He and Lana have a date, tonight," Jonathon replied as he put the ball and mitts in the closet.

"I really like Lana. She's a very sweet girl," Martha commented.

"So do I." Jonathon left the closet door open a crack. In the closet was a mid-sized fire safe where the Kents would keep all their valuable documents. However, there was something more than just documents inside that safe; and the moment Jonathon walked away, a green glow seeped out of the cracks of the safe.


	9. First Rescue

**Chapter 9: First Rescue**

Clark s heart was racing. Even though he was matching the speed limit of the highway, it felt as if he was going half-that. He had been looking forward to his evening out with Lana. As clich -ish as it may sound, life seemed better whenever he was around her. All of his problems no longer mattered when he was with her.

Clark turned on the radio as he drove down the highway. Playing some classic country music in the back-round always tended to put Clark at ease while driving. He was the kind of person who preferred background noise, especially when studying. His father never understood that. While Clark was doing his homework, his father would occasionally walk by and turn off the radio.

Clark had just happened to know the song that came on the radio. He found himself whistling along with the melody and tapping his fingers, to the beat, on the steering wheel.

An orange flash caught his attention from the corner of his eye. Looking around, he waited to see if there was another flash. For a moment, he did not know if that flash was real or in his mind s eye. Perhaps he had passed something on the road that reflected the headlights of his truck.

It was almost totally dark now; and anything, as bright as what he thought he saw, should have been easy to spot. His nerves had just started to calm down when a fire ball streaked across the sky. What is going on?

Clark narrowly avoided crashing when an explosion sent asphalt shards flying right in front of his truck. Pulling hard on the steering wheel, the truck peeled sharply around the newly formed ditch. The sky was now raining fire all around him. His mind was racing, wondering what the smart thing to do was. If he stopped the truck, would he be any safer than trying to outrace the firestorm?

He had no time to make a decision. His truck was already flipping in the air like a coin. The engine was on fire from the impact of the meteorite. The windshield shattered as the truck landed on the hood.

It did not take Clark long to gather his wits. The blaze from the front of the truck was growing bigger by the second. It was only a matter of seconds before the whole truck would catch on fire. Despite what had just happened, he was not sore in the least. Over the years, he had discovered that he was incapable of being cut or bruised. That did not mean, however, that he was exempt from emotional trauma.

He used one hand to steady himself to avoid falling on his head as he unbuckled his seatbelt. After a few maneuvers to wiggle out from behind the seatbelt, he lowered himself to the roof of the car amongst all the shards of glass. The heat from the fire was starting to get intense as it started to overwhelm the truck. There was no point being gentle with the truck any longer, seeing it was as good as gone. Using his super strength, he awkwardly punched the side of the door. The metal cracked as the door was ripped off it s hinges and sailed off into the distance.

Freedom was right in now right there. He crawled out of the truck and promptly climbed to his feet and then put some distance between him and the blazing wreck.

_Dad s gonna kill me._ That was all he could think of as he watched the family truck burn. The meteor shower had ended as quickly as it started, but it left a lot of damage in it's wake. He did not need the truck to return home, or go off to see Lana; if that was what he decided to do. Under the circumstances, though, it was probably a better idea to just go home and then call Lana explaining the situation.

Somebody help! a desperate woman s voice cried out.

He looked around for the source of the cry. Behind him was a two-story Tudor-style home next to a large, empty, dirt field. The house was engulfed in flames, apparently having been hit a few times by the burning meteorites.

He hated that he felt conflicted by the situation. His desire to help the family was more than he could bear, but how could he help without his powers? He could easily put this fire out without breaking a sweat, but that would reveal him to the world.

He was not about to let them suffer. He ran over to the woman and her two kids who were frantically screaming. In shock, she saw him and must have assumed he was a professional firefighter. "Please help us! My husband is still inside!"

Clark nodded to the women, acknowledging her plea. He thought it best not to allow her to hear his voice. He was jeopardizing everything just by helping. At the very least, he can keep his voice from identifying him, in case the woman was too stressed to remember his face.

Leaving the distraught mother and children behind, he plowed through the front door with his right shoulder. A wall of suffocating smoke hit him hard as he entered the burning home. He half expected the smoke to immediately begin filling his lungs and slowly suffocate him. He was amazed to discover that the smoke did not bother him in the least.

Though one of his powers including being able to see through anything, seeing through fire proved to be more difficult than seeing through solid matter. The orange glow proved to be very distracting in his attempt to focusing his super vision. Putting more effort than he had ever done before, he was able to overcome the distraction, and the flames all around his dimmed.

After the flames dimmed; the sheetrock faded, giving him a look at the structural framework of the house. He could see where the planks were becomeing frail. He did not have much time before the whole house collapsed.

He looked for a human figure amongst all the debris on both floors. He focused on room after room until he could see a male-shaped figure kneeling in the kitchen. There was no back door for him to escape. He must of wandered into the kitchen, by accident, trying to find the front door.

Clark walked towards the kitchen, not afraid to walk through the wall of fire blocking him. When he got into the kitchen, all he could see was gray. His superb hearing allowed him to hear the coughing and wheezing of the father over the roaring of the flames.

He had an idea on how he could find the father, but he did not know if it would work. After all, he had never been accused of being long winded. After taking a deep breath, he blew at the smoke. Just as he had hoped, his lungs were as strong as the rest of his body. The thick haze of smoke thinned out slightly, just enough to see the outline of the Kitchen and a man kneeling on the floor by the sink. For a farmer, the man was exceptionally smart. He was holding a wet cloth around his nose and mouth, slowing the process of suffocation. However, he was quickly succumbing to the smoke.

Clark ran to the man and helped him to his feet. "Hold on! I m going to get you out of here!" He yelled, knowing that the man had only heard enough to know what he said over the roar of the flames, and not enough to identify him later.

Clark s ear twitched as he heard the sound of wood shattering: the house was collapsing. There was no time make it out the front door. There was only a split second to react if he wanted to get this man out alive. He no longer had any choice; he had to use his super strength in front of this man.

He scooped the man up in his arms and charged towards one of the burning walls. He did his best to shield him from the flames as he turned to his side and rammed the wall with his shoulder. The wall shattered easier with the wood in such a fragile state. Except for the flames, he was pretty sure than any normal male could have done the same thing. The wall gave away so easy that Clark tripped the moment his feet touched outside.

Clark accidentally dropped the man as he hit the ground onto of his arm. Shaking himself off, he stood straight up and looked for the man he had carried out only to find him gone. "What?"

The man was nowhere to be seen. Not only that, the whole burning house, and the wife and children had disappeared as well. He was standing in an empty dirt field. It was as if the house was never here in the first place.

Even more puzzling was all the scorch marks left by the flaming meteorites were gone. His pick-up truck was parked there in the middle of the highway with the driver-side door open. Everything, all the way up to the meteorite shower, had not happened. "What is going on?"


	10. Another Vision

**Chapter 10: Another Vision**

After spending more time contemplating about it than he would have liked, Clark decided to go ahead with his date. When he spent the rest of his trip thinking nothing but what had just transpired, he wondered if he should have called it off. He worried if he was going to be able to give Lana the attention she deserved.

After parking in the parking lot behind the small country café, he made his way around to the front where, as usual, there were at least a dozen of high-school students hanging out chatting. Some were just hanging out in front of the store talking it up with their friends; others were waiting to get in to the café. This country café was a very popular evening hangout for students.

There was one girl that stood out from the rest. He nearly forgot about the ordeal he had gone through not less than ten minutes ago. Perhaps he made a good choice after all. Lana Lang was the most beautiful girl in Smallville in Clark's biased opinion. Her hair was dark red, which matched her green eyes phenomenally well. She was a few inches smaller than your typical senior in high school. However, that definitely played to her advantage when it came to being on the cheerleader squad. Her athletic figure and her petit body made one of the best cheerleaders for Smallville's high school football team. She was always the top of the pyramid.

That also meant that she was the envy of the school. Most of the jocks could not believe that she would willingly date a nerd like Clark Kent. He never told her; that because of them dating, he was often heckled and bullied by the likes of John Corben. Clark suspected that he had a crush for Lana; another fact that he kept from her.

Her face lit-up when she saw him coming. He could not help but melt when he saw her smile. Her smile was enough to make anyone's bad day just disappear. "Clark! You're late."

"Sorry about that. I lost track of time."

"Well, we will have to wait a little for the next available table, but I think I know a way we can spend the time." Lana wrapped her arms over his shoulders.

Clark grinned, as he had to bow his head so his lips could meet hers. He wrapped his arms around her, respectfully. As if seeing her was not enough to make him forget about what had happened; holding her in his arms, and locking lips with her, was. It was the part of the whole evening that he was looking forward to the most; and the date had only just begun.

His moment of bliss was rudely interrupted when John Corben and his two buddies. Nothing had changed with him over the years. He was still the jerk he was when he was a kid. He was still afraid enough of Clark not to get physical with him, so he probably decided to settle on getting an emotional response from him. "If it ain't the dweeb."

Clark sighed as he and Lana broke off their embrace. From the look on her face, she was anything but happy with John's untimely interruption. "Great, I thought I smelled something funny," Clark said turning around to face John.

"You say something, Kent?" John was in the mood to pick a fight; which was not all that unusual.

"Absolutely nothing," Clark mumbled.

John's temper appeared to be rising, but Clark knew that it was just a front for his friends. He knew the kid well enough, that he was all talk. "You have a problem?"

"Yea, and I've been having it ever since elementary school."

"Clark, don't," Lana urged softly, taking hold of his arm.

"Keep it up, Kent. There's three of us here. We may have to teach you a lesson on respect."

"Kind of hard to learn respect from someone who doesn't give it," Clark retorted. He was fed up with this kid. He knew John was afraid of him. He could see it in his face. That did not stop him from clamping his right hand into a fist. Clark saw the first and how much he wanted to deck him right there. "You really want to try that again?"

Clark could see it in his eyes. John remembered the last time he tried to throw a punch back in elementary school. It did not go well for him at all. Having that memory thrown back into his face, his hand relaxed.

The tension, between the two of them, was timely interrupted, when a black stretched limousine slowly drove by. Clark knew exactly who was in the car, and did not even need to look through the half-opened tinted window. Lex Luthor sat in the back, wearing black shades. Sitting next to him was a blond girl, who Clark assumed was his girlfriend.

Clark had not seen his friend in so long, and his heart had leaped the moment he saw him. Lex, however, showed no emotions at all. He looked in his and John's direction and showed no indication that he even cared. His face was cold and callused. The limousine passed the crowd and drove off to wherever Lex was off too.

"Did ya' see that guys! It was that bald-headed freak!" John's insult caused his pals to laugh, which grated on Clark's nerves even more. "Still a puny freak after all these years. What a looser. Let's go guys!"

Clark was relieved to see them go. He was ready to deck that kid. Lana saw him all worked up and rubbed his back. It was astonishing how Lana had the knack of making him feel at ease. It was remarkable how quickly the tension had left his body. "Forget about him, Clark. Some men just don't know when to grow up."

"You're right," Clark replied, giving back to her all of his attention. "Did you see Lex? I haven't seen him in years. I always wondered if he was okay."

"It looks to me that Lex turned out alright, despite his father."

Clark shook his head. "I don't know. I wish I could believe that."

* * *

After dinner, Clark and Lana drove over to an open field off the highway just on the outskirts of Smallville. There, Clark laid out a blanket where the two of them could lay on their backs and stare up at the stars in the night sky. There was not a cloud in the sky, and with an open field, there were no trees to hinder the view of the vastness of the sky.

"The stars are so beautiful and bright tonight," Lana said with a smile on her face. Clark could not remember a time when she did not have a smile on her face. "Is that the Big Dipper or the small dipper?"

Clark looked in the direction she was pointing. His best subject in school was astronomy. He was the perfect person to be able to identify star constellations. "That's the large dipper."

"You know, with all those stars out there, and the vastness of space, do you think there is intelligent life out there somewhere?"

She had no idea the irony of the question she had just asked him. He could not help and smile. "I think it's safe to say that there is other life out there. I'm pretty confident."

Lana laughed at his confidence. They continued to marvel at the spectacle that so few in the world ever truly took the time to notice. Clark squinted as he noticed that a few stars were missing from the sky. He was ready to comment on that, when all the stars faded into oblivion; leaving a black, empty sky. "Lana, are you seeing this?"

He looked over to see that she was no longer lying next to him. He was alone in the middle of nowhere. He jumped to his feet to see nothing but blackness all around. A very ominous laugh echoed around him from all directions. Flames began to pierce the darkness, and before he knew it, he was surrounded by flames that reached high above his head.

A massive shadow appeared in the fire. It looked like a ten-foot gorilla. It's massive biceps were thicker than Clark's entire body. He could hear it growling, as it stared at him with its white-glowing eyes. There was no mistaking it: that creature had death on its mind. It let out a terrifying roar that put shivers down his spine. Never in his life had been so terrified of anything in his life.

"Last son of Krypton," A voice called out.

Clark turned around to see a giant, ghostly face. He could see no distinguishing facial features other than his red glowing eyes. "Who are you? What do you want? What is this?"

He did not reply to any of his questions, but Clark could still tell that the face was talking to him. "Last son of Krypton, you are going to die!"

* * *

Clark sat up screaming almost as if he had been awakened by a terrifying nightmare. The problem was he did not remember falling asleep. Looking around, he saw everything was back to the way things were before this new vision hit him. Lana was sitting up with him, with a deep look of concern on her face. "What's wrong, Clark?"

Clark could not tell her about the vision. How could he possibly explain what he had just seen? His mind struggled to find an excuse, and 'falling asleep' was not an option. "I-I…"

"Look at you, you're drenched in sweat!"

_Come on think!_ There had to be something he could say to put her at ease and forget about this whole situation.

"Perhaps we should call it a night. Your face is flush, and you're covered in sweat. You might be coming down with something."

That was the last thing Clark wanted. He did not want this night to end, but two strange occurrences in a single night? It was probably for the best that they did call it the night. Perhaps his parents could explain a little about what he was going through.


	11. So Long and Farewell

**Chapter 11: So Long and Farewell**

"So is the new facility in Metropolis to your liking?" Lex asked, sitting behind his dark, cherry, mahogany desk. Standing opposite him was General Samuel Lane of the US Army.

Lex had worked hard to get where he was. Studying hard in private school, he graduated from a high school a year early. So for the last year, Lex had had been working in his father's company where he proved to be a top notch business man. Since being given partial control of Lexcorp, he had made the company an impressive profit. Now he was on the verge of nearly doubling the company's earnings.

"Lexcorp's new facility in Metropolis is very impressive; but I must admit, I'd rather be talking this kind of business with your father."

Lex did not have any eyebrows because of his Hallermann-Streiff syndrome, but if he did, his right eyebrow would have been raised. "My father owns this business, and I am the heir. My father's word is mine, and my word is his. Yes, our weapon's department is new, and doing business with the Army would bring in a nice profit and some publicity, but we do not need your contract to survive. Having seen our prototypes in person, you know as well as I do, that the weapons we offer would prove to be an invaluable asset in saving the lives of those on the front line. So, are you willing to swallow your pride and do business with a minor, to save the lives of your soldiers, or not?"

Lex knew he had him just by the look on the General's face. Lex was adept at reading faces. It was a technique that his father had taught him, and a gift he exploited to do as well as he did in school. The fact of the matter is: Lex wanted this account more than anything. Everything he worked so hard for was on the line here.

His father taught him: _the way to get what you want for as little as possible from a salesperson was to show no interest in the item. Do it well enough, and they will start begging you for your business. When that happens, you have all the power to dictate the terms of the purchase._ Though there was no monetary purchase being made here, the concept still applied. To Lex, General Lane was nothing more than a salesperson trying to sell a lucrative contract to produce weapons for the US Military.

General Lane nodded his head and grunted. "You are your father's son. Very well, let's start the negotiation."

Lex grinned. He knew that the only person who was going to be negotiating here was General Lane. Hook…line…sinker!

* * *

Two hours later, his father entered the office holding a folder in his hand. Lex knew that his father already knew that Lex landed the military contract. He had General Lane eating out of his hand. Now came the time that he had waited a long time for. His hard labor was about to pay off big time.

"Congratulations are in order, I hear," Lionel said with a devilish grin on his face. "You nailed the military contract."

"Did you even doubt me? I virtually had the military general down on his knees begging me to sign the contract."

"That's my son," Lionel said as he tossed the folder in his hands onto the desk. "You have certainly earned this reward."

Lex stood up and grabbed the folder from off the desk. "It's done then?"

"It's done," his father confirmed as he walked over to the bar in the room and begin to pour himself a half glass of gin. "My will now states that you are my rightful heir to Lexcorp. When I am gone, you will own everything."

Lex watched as his father took a sip from his drink. "I'm so glad to hear you say that."

The glass dropped from his hand, shattering into pieces. Lionel gasped as he grasped for his chest. Lex was enjoying this moment more than he had anticipated. This time was long overdue. "What's the matter, father? You're acting like you just drank some poison."

His father's eyes were wide open, looking at him with horror. His face was already beginning to turn gray. Lex was impressed how fast the poison was working. It was money well spent. "Wh-why?" Lionel chocked.

"It's as you have always said, father, 'whatever you want, take it by force. If there is something standing in your way, destroy it'." Lex went up to his father and kept him from falling. Leaning forward, he whispered into his ear, "I want all of Lexcorp. I want everything, and you were standing in my way."

Lionel was on his last few breaths. Lex released his grip on his father, allowing him to fall onto his knees. "That's my son!" Those were the final words before his body fell over.

"Good bye, father."

* * *

"I don't know son," his father said as he tossed the baseball back to Clark. "I have no idea what may be causing these illusions."

Clark caught the ball and held onto if for a few seconds before throwing it back. "They're very unsettling. The last one scared me. I've never been that scared of anything in my life."

"I'm sure it's nothing to be too scared off."

Clark could see it in his face that he did not believe what he had just said. The visions were just as unsettling for him as it was for Clark. "Or maybe they are messages of some sort. Maybe someone, out there, is trying to get my attention."

His father hand-signaled to Clark to 'wait a minute' as he started to roll his right shoulder trying to get a kink out. Perhaps this was his way of getting the focus off the topic. His father hated talking about life on other planets. It made him extremely uncomfortable. "You alright, Dad?"

"Fine, Son," he replied, raising his glove up to signal to commence tossing the ball.

Clark did. "That voice called me the Last Son of Krypton. I wonder what Krypton is?"

"I have no idea, Son," he replied, clearly wanting to talk about something else. His father held on to the ball, as he knelt forward; breathing heavily as if he was out of breath.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

"Let me just- let me just catch my breath."

Clark stood there waiting. His father had been acting exceedingly strange today. He had been lightheaded and nauseous all day. Before coming out for a game of toss, he had taken a few aspirin to sooth the symptoms. He figured that since the symptoms were coming-and-going, that his father would just need a few minutes to catch his breath.

However, the symptoms did not subside. His father grasped towards his heart as his face revealed that he was in immense pain. That was when Clark knew something was seriously wrong. "Dad?"

He looked like he was a man carrying a thousand pounds of weights on his shoulder. The 'weight' had become too much for him and he collapsed onto the dirt road. "Dad!"

Clark ran to his father. Gently rolling him onto his back, he saw that was unconscious. "Mom, come quickly!" Clark screamed loud enough so that she could hear him from all the way inside. He knelt beside his father and gently nudged him. "Wake up, Dad! Come on, wake up!"

Jonathon Kent laid there in the dirt road, unresponsive. Tears saturated Clark's face; as for the first time in his life, he was powerless to do anything about it. This would end up being the day that would change the Kent household forever.


	12. Destiny's Calling

**Chapter 12: Destiny s Calling**

Today was supposed to be a celebration, but for Clark, it was anything but. Sitting amongst a stream of black gowns and caps, he waited until his name was called to receive his high school diploma. All he could think of was the empty seat next to his mother. All of his achievements meant nothing without his father being there to congratulate him. Everything Clark had become, everything he achieved, was because of his father's guidance.

He replayed the funeral in his mind for the hundredth time. He was standing next to his mother and Lana next to him. His mother had tried to stay strong, but Clark knew better. She was an emotional wreck, as well. There was no couple, in Smallville, more in love than his parents. Every Monday evening, without fail, they went out on a date. His father went out of the way to clear every Monday evenings from his schedule. He would take her out to dinner and sometimes even went to a movie afterwards.

The moment that his father was lowered into the ground was when he finally realized that his father really was gone. Lana, knowing from experience what he was going through, gently squeezed his hand. Her mother had died when she was just a girl. She knew how close Clark was to his father, and her heart was breaking with his.

After the burial service, Lana embraced him tightly. "I am so sorry, Clark," she had whispered into his ear. He held her as tightly as he dare, and he could not help but weep on her shoulder. He could not hold it in any longer.

"…Clark Kent…"

Awakened from his thoughts, Clark realized that his name was called. At the claps of his fellow graduating classmates, he stood up and made his way up onto the podium to accept the diploma. The principal handed him the diploma as Clark looked out to the crowd for the photo shot. As he did, he saw his mother amongst the crowd of parents. She smiled as she applauded her son. His father had only passed away a few months ago; but in that short time, she had seemed to have aged very rapidly. She already looked ten years older than she truly was. He knew that a losing a loved one tended to age a person quickly. Her hair was graying faster, and wrinkles were already starting to form on her face.

He knew that she loved him, but her heart was still in pain. He understood that, because his heart was not in this ceremony either. If it had been up to him, he would have stayed home and have the diploma mailed to him. He was relieved when the photographer finished taking the picture. Feeling uncomfortable being on the stage and having everyone in the arena stare at him, he wasted no time getting off the platform and returning to his seat.

* * *

After the ceremony, Clark wanted to be alone. When he got home, he climbed up onto the second level of the barn, and opened the hay doors for some fresh air. Surrounded by nothing other than haystacks, he had achieved some alone time. He sat down on one of the haystacks and drifted into deep thought.

His mind drifted to the day his father died. They were in the middle of throwing the baseball around when he collapsed. They should have seen the signs of the heart attack from the moment they were awake. The signs where there, when his father awoke at the breaking of dawn. If they had only acted then, instead of late in the evening, he would still be alive.

Clark was doubly guilty. With all the powers he had been blessed with, he could not find one to save his father. Was it because he was afraid to use them, or was it because he did not think about using them. He could not answer that question, and it was tearing at his soul every since that day. Why could he not save him?

"I missed him today, too," his mother said as she finished climbing up the wooden ladder to the upper hayloft.

Clark glanced towards her, briefly, before looking away. "He should have been here. I should have done something to save him. All my powers, and I could not even save him."

"Clark, your father's death was not your fault," She consoled as she approached him. "No one can control death, not even you. Do you want to know what the real reason your father wanted to train you in controlling your powers?"

"What's the real reason?"

"There's a saying that goes, 'Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts, absolutely.' If a normal person had the same abilities you have, eventually they would begin to use them for their own benefit. He feared that people would begin to see you as, some sort of, god; and that it would start going to your head. He knew that your abilities would one day be used to help others. Do you remember about that strange vision you had several months ago?"

"How could I forget," Clark replied. It was the most unsettling he had ever felt. He actually had two visions that day. One where he went into a burning building and then another with a strange figuring calling him The Last Son of Krypton. He assumed she was referring to the prior vision.

"You were willing to use your gifts to help someone else in need. That is what your father wanted for you. Clark, maybe able to do a great deal more than everyone else; but don't beat yourself up for things you cannot control. That's not what your father would have wanted."

"Thanks, Mom," Clark replied. He understood what she was trying to say, and appreciated it, but it was something that he would have to digest on before accepting it in his life.

He stood up and accepted a hug from her. It was not necessarily a hug of consolation and support. It was a hug that said that they were in this thing together, and together they will find a way to thrive.

Allowing him to spend some time alone, she walked to the ladder and made her way down and out of the barn. Clark watched through the hay doors as his mother head inside their home.

He found his new thoughts taking a different turn after the small chat with his mother. He looked out at the many acres of land that would need to be tended. How were they going to make end's meat without his father? Clark was more than willing to stay and take on his father's responsibilities, but he knew that his mother would argue with him about that. She would want him to continue on with his life, but what would become of her?

His concern now was for her. There was no way she could tend this farm alone. Life had just thrown a monkey wrench into their lives. There was no way for them to be able to keep this farm and for Clark to have a career of his own which both of his parents had wanted for him.

His thoughts were interrupted by a plank creaking from behind him. His first thought was that his mother had forgotten to tell him something, but he soon realized he had seen her enter the house. His super sense of hearing allowed him to confirm that there was someone standing behind him.

He turned to see who it was, only to have a metal fist come crashing into his face. The impact threw him out the hay doors and falling for one story down to the ground. Stunned by the unexpected attack, he sat up and dusted himself off as he looked up to see what had attacked him.

Standing in the second-level doorway, was some kind of man-sized android. It was something straight out of a science fiction comic book. The robot seemed to have intelligence as he stood there staring down at Clark. The most distinguishing feature was the three circles on it's exaggerated forehead. This robot, or whatever it was, was not from Earth. This had to be another vision.

He stood up and decided to treat this as another vision. Perhaps this vision had a message for him. He waited to see where the vision would lead, but he would come to regret that decision. It attacked once again with white laser beams shooting out from his eye sockets. What he thought was just an illusion turned out to be very, very real.

The force of the beams threw him to the ground violently. The spot on his chest where the beams impacted felt numb; after the brief feeling of being pricked by thousands of tiny needles, faded. The android leaped out of the doorway to land a few feet from Clark, who was quick to return to his feet. He was going to have to defend himself and his mother. He could not let that android go near her. He had to find a way to take this fight somewhere else. To accomplish this, he could not afford to hold his powers back.

Clark swiftly charged at the android, delivering a powerful blow across it's face, and sending it flying backwards back into the barn. The android hit a pillar which stopped his momentum, and the pillar cracked upon impact.

Clark stopped at the doorway cautiously. He had no idea what this android was made of or was capable of doing. A part of him wanted to throw everything he had at it and avoid finding out. The other part of him stressed caution because of what it might be capable of. The fact that the android seemed to have taken no damage by his powerful belt showed him that this android was more dangerous than he could have anticipated.

Clark knew that he had no choice: if he wanted to end this quickly and with minimal damage, he was going to have to go all out. There was no time to try to reason with it; if it even could be reasoned with. Clark ran hard, leading a trail of blue blur, at the android in an attempt to ram it with his shoulder. The Android, proved to be remarkably fast as well, as it was able to step aside. With precise calculations, just as Clark reached where the android had just been standing, it swatted it's arm. The impact sent Clark flying through the barn wall, which shattered into thousands of large splinters. Clark crashed into the large tractor, which surprisingly stood its ground upon impact.

He grimaced as he came to his senses. It took a lot for him to feel any pain, but he felt that impact. Looking up, he saw the android walking towards him impassively. That android was able to move at the same speed as he could. Either that, or it calculated his move before hand and timed its reaction accordingly. Either way, this was not going to be easy.

Clark jumped and back-flipped over the large tractor, that had been behind him. He winded himself up to deliver a punch just strong enough to be able to send the tractor flying into the android and not to cause it to shatter, or worse. The amount of strength he had to put into the punch had to be perfect. It was times like this that he was grateful for the training his father had him do as he was growing up. He would never have been able to pull something like this off without it. He launched his fist and hit precisely the right location to achieve his intended objective. The tractor hovered less than a foot off the ground as it sailed towards the android.

Clark could not see the android in front of the tractor, so he could only hope to see the tractor go crashing through the barn, which would be his only evidence that he had scored a direct hit. However, it did not happen that way at all. The tractor was reflected to the side and rolled as if it had been in a side-on collision with an eighteen-wheeler. The android had swatted the tractor as if it was nothing more than fly. Clark now knew that it's strength rivaled his own.

* * *

Martha Kent was in the kitchen, preparing lunch. Perhaps a good meal would cheer Clark up. After all, this was his graduation day. He should not be spending it in isolation. She understood what he was going through. She had lost the only love that she had ever known. She was going through the same bout of depression. How could she even think about trying to cheer her son up when she could not cheer herself up? The house felt empty without Jonathon around. What used to be a pleasant, family atmosphere now felt intimidating and scary.

A thunderous crash, originating from outside, caused the house to tremble. "What?"

Her first thought was that something had happened to Clark. She immediately threw that concern away, and convinced herself that he was venting out his emotions. If that was the case, he simply had just gone overboard with his strength. She decided to check to see if her son was okay. She had made it to the doorway between the dining room and the living room when the living room erupted in chaos. She raced underneath the dining room table, to avoid being hit by flying debris.

It took her a few seconds to return to her senses, but when she did, she could not believe her eyes. Clark was in the middle of a fight for his life against a mechanical robot, or something. The living room was in shambles as their fight had been brought inside their home. "Clark!" She screamed before she realized that distracting him was probably a bad idea.

Clark spring up with his fist up by his right ear. He brought his fist down, violently, into the artificial face of the robot. It staggered a little bit, but handled the punch better than she had expected it would. "Get out of here, Mom!" He was concerned for her welfare and was trying his best to keep the attention of the robot on himself.

She respected his desire to protect her, but she could not just leave him alone with that thing. She may not have his powers, but he was still her son. She was not going to leave him when he needed help. There had to be something she could do to help him.

The robot took notice of something in the coat closet. Martha had no idea what that thing was thinking. There was no weapon that it could use to hurt Clark. The only thing that was in there were coats and the fire safe. Wait; the fire safe! Could that thing be after what they had locked away in the safe?

The robot pointed its right palm towards the closet. The closet door shattered as the safe flew right into its magnetized hand as if it weighed nothing more than a feather. She was now convinced that it wanted the contents of the safe. Maybe it would leave now that it had what it wanted.

It turned out that she was utterly wrong. The robot rammed the safe into Clark's chest, pinning him against the wall. She could not help but scream at the brutality of the attack. She knew that her son's powers allowed him to survive such an attack, but it was still brutal to watch. The attack did manage to knock the wind out of him, though. She could only watch as the robot continued it brutal beat down by raising the safe over his head and crushing his skull with it.

"Clark!" Martha cried as he collapsed to the ground. Clark was too stunned to defend himself as the robot raised the safe up for another strike. "No!" Martha pleaded.

The robot either did not hear her cry or did not care. It went ahead and brought down the steel safe. On his hands and knees, Clark desperately swung up and met the steel safe with his fist. The impact of his punch sent the safe flying towards Martha, who was already crawling as fast as she could from underneath the table. She barely made it out when the safe crashed through one of it's leg, causing the table to collapse.

Martha was relieved to still be alive. She removed the tabletop from on top of the safe. There was a massive dent in the safe from where Clark had punched it. The door to the safe had fallen open and lying on the floor were some of the rods of crystals that they had found beside Clark after the meteor shower. All of the crystals were clear, except for one. It was that one green crystal rod that was glowing in front of her now.

She reached down and grabbed the radiating crystal rod. What was making it glow? Did it have something to do with what was going on now? The robot did not seem aware of her presence this whole time, even now as she held the glowing crystal in her hand. It obviously did not have any interest in the crystal. An idea formed in her mind. She had no idea where it came from; it was almost as if the crystal was talking to her. She knew what she needed to do.

Clark had started to make a comeback since being attacked with the safe. He delivered a blow that sent the robot across the room. This was the perfect opportunity. "Clark!" She called out.

He glanced over at her. She could see he was exhausted in his eyes. The robot had taken a lot of him. She awkwardly flung the crystal rod towards Clark, showing her lack of athleticism in the process. The toss was good enough, however, to realize it's goal. Clark caught the glowing crystal just as the android was about to pounce on Clark. The moment his hand wrapped around the crystal, the robot vanished.

* * *

It was as if a new image had faded over the old. All the damage that had been done to the home was gone. Everything was back to the way things were before the fight had taken place. The glowing green crystal-like rod was the only thing that remained from the vision.

His mother joined him; her face showed that she was just as confused as he was. She was holding several crystals similar to the one he had except they were clear. This meant that the crystals, or whatever they were, were real. "You saw it too, right?"

She nodded, still stuck in uncertainty, as she looked around the house. "I saw it."

Clark looked at the glowing green crystal, that she had tossed him? Could it be some type of emerald? He had never seen anything like it. It was too neatly cut for it to be just your average emerald. Even diamonds could not be cut this cleanly. "What is this?"

Before she could answer, the crystal in his hand started to glow brighter. In front of them, a holographic image of a man appeared before them. He was dignified in his appearance. He had black hair with graying bangs. Everything about his demeanor showed that he was an brilliant man. He was dressed in an all-white uniform-like suit. Printed over his chest was a large diamond with an 'S' in the center.

The man looked directly at Clark, as if he could actually see him. "Hello, my Son. You should already be aware; that the family, that has been taking care of you all these years, is your adopted family. I am your natural father, Jor-El."

"My father?" Clark replied in shock.

His mother was even more-so. "Oh…my…god!"

"You're real name is Kal-El from the family of –El. You come from the planet Krypton; a planet far from the galaxy where you are now. Your mother and I sent you to Earth to save you from Krypton's destruction."

"Destruction?"

"Yes, my Son. Krypton was destroyed many years ago, based on your earth time."

"Did he hear my question?" Clark asked his mother, still uncomfortable addressing a holographic image.

"Yes, my Son. Though I am long dead, this image of me can respond to any question you may have. Over the years, you have discovered your amazing abilities. Your abilities come from the prolonged exposure of Earth's yellow sun. Your earth family has done a wonderful job training you." The image of Jor-El turned to face Martha which freaked her out even more. "For that, I am truly grateful."

"Okay," Martha replied, completely at a loss for words. How can the image of a dead man see her?

The image of Jor-El returned his attention back to Clark. "Kal-El, you have been tested and you have been deemed ready to fulfill your destiny."

"Tested? These visions I've been having were tests?"

"Yes, my Son. It is now time for you to leave your earth family, and everything you have ever known to fulfill your destiny."

"Wait a minute! I have to leave? I can't leave my mother, not now," Clark replied. This was unreal. Under the circumstances, he was willing to accept that this man may be his natural father, but he could not leave his mother alone.

"You do not have a choice, my Son. By sending you to Earth, I fear that I may have also brought great calamity to the planet as well. I cannot go into details right now, but if you do not fulfill your true destiny, then everyone you know and everyone on earth will perish. The only way that your loved ones can be saved is by fulfilling your true calling. You must find a location somewhere on Earth where no other human being would ever go. That is where you will create a fortress of solitude. That is where you shall learn everything you need to know."

Jor-El's image vanished, and the green crystal in Clark's hand dimmed back to normal.


	13. The Quest

**Chapter 13: The Quest**

Clark packed the last of the Kryptonian crystals in his back pack. Everything he was going to need on his quest was now packed in his old high-school backpack. This was not what he had expected for his life, but there was a part of him that was excited about this. After many years of questions about his life, he was on the cusp of getting some answers. There was nothing worse than not understanding who you are. At the same time, though, this could not have happened at a worse time.

"I can't leave you alone," Clark said, shaking his head. "There is no way you can handle this land on your own."

"Clark Kent," his mother looked at him firmly as she folded her arms in front of her. "You don't worry about me. I'm not your responsibility. I will hire some help if I have to. I'll sell off part of the land if It comes down to it. This is your time, Clark. Go find yourself. I'll be just fine."

Clark nodded in agreement. She was a strong woman. She was a Kent. Somehow, he began to believe that she would be alright.

"You are going to talk to Lana before leaving Smallville, right?"

Clark froze when he heard Lana's name. He had not forgotten about her; but being reminded of having to break-up the best thing in his life, reopened his broken heart. That was the hardest thing about leaving Smallville. "Yes, I will."

Clark had put on the back pack, now ready to begin his journey. Martha's eyes began to tear. "Good-bye, Son." She embraced him tightly. "Don't drop off the face of the planet; you hear me?"

Clark laughed. "I won't."

After the hug expired, Clark began his journey. He walked down the dirt road until his mother and the farm were off in the distance. At the end of the dirt road, he used his super speed to his first destination.

* * *

It was the evening time, and Clark could see the lights on in the dining room. Lana was having dinner with her family. His nerves were on end as he slowly approached the house. In his hand, was the letter he wrote for Lana.

This was the only way this could be done. His heart was already broken; and soon, so will her's. He could only pray that she will learn to forgive him. He could not give her a reason why their relationship had to end; which would make this much harder on her. Knowing, that she was probably going to hate him, was a burden that weighed heavily on him.

He approached the old wooden house. It's wood was warped rotting in many places. He did not dare step up onto the front porch because the cricking wood would alert everyone inside of his presence. He knelt down on one knee, just shy of the first step. He softly tossed his hand written note closer to the door. The letter stopped sliding a quarter of the way to the screen door. It was the perfect spot for Lana to see it the next time she opened the front door.

His job here was done. He stood up was put a good-sized distance between him and the old home. He afforded himself one last look at the home of the women he would always love. "Bye, Lana."

* * *

Clark had started his quest using his super speed to head north. It was not long until he was forced to continue his journey in the air. He had followed his compass to the letter. His destination was due north. Once he took to the air; that became his preferred way to travel. Flying was less physically demanding, and the view was positively breathtaking. As night fell, the moonlight lit the way for him. As he flew over water, he was awed at the beauty of the moon-light reflecting off the ripples of the water.

As he drew closer and closer to the Arctic, the sunlight began to reemerge. It was awkward to see sunlight in the middle of the night. As he flew over the frozen Arctic Ocean, he looked down at a couple of polar bears walking over the frozen ocean.

Clark finally found land mass amongst all the ice. The only way he could tell there was land, amid all the white frost, was the mountains. He knew the mountains would make it near impossible for anyone to reach his fortress. He searched, around the mountains, to find that the mountains made a giant _'U'_. That would do just nicely.

* * *

It had begun to snow when Clark landed onto the ice cap. A blizzard was moving in, so he had to act quickly. He was standing in front of the _U-_shaped mountain. There was no gradual ascent up the mountain for any experienced mountain climber. The mountain was just one steep vertical drop, which would serve him just nicely.

He did not waste any time getting his backpack off, and pulling out the green Kryptonian crystal; which was once again glowing. Somehow, he knew what needed to be done next. The crystal made it clear to him that it wanted to be thrown.

If he was not careful, he could end up shattering the crystal upon the side of the mountain. He was pretty sure that would defeat the purpose of what he was trying to accomplish here. Barley tapping into his super strength, he tossed the crystal. The Crystal spiraled for quite a long distance. It looked as if he had thrown it too hard, and cursed his lousy throw. The crystal stopped as if it had hit an invisible shield. It hovered in place for a few seconds before it floated in an entirely different direction.

Clark watched as the crystal hovered to a precise location. He had no idea how Kryptonian technology worked yet, but he assumed that it was 'programmed' to plant itself exactly where it needed to be. With that and the responding holographic, he knew that the people of Krypton were much more technically advanced than Earth.

The crystal found the right location and dropped. At first, it bounced off the packed-down snow. After a few seconds, however, it seemed to melt through the snow. He did not know what to expect next, so he waited. He did not have to wait long. The ground began to quake. Clark balanced himself to keep his footing.

Piercing the ground were massive ice-crystals that looked like giant versions of the Kryptonian crystals that he had in his backpack. Dozens of them began to emerge from the ground. After about ten to fifteen stories up, they began to crisscross.

Soon, the rising Kryptonian structure took up three quarters of the space within the _U_-shaped mountain range. After ten minutes; the quake ended and the massive structure was complete.

The fortress was phenomenal but very odd looking. It looked like a pile of pick-up sticks from the outside. The inside was a different matter. As he walked through the entrance, he was taken-back by what he was seeing. While it had no resemblance to an earthly abode, it was remarkably elegant. It was much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside, as well. If he had to guess, a good portion of the fortress looked as if it was some kind of alien museum without any displays, as of yet. Everything was made of ice-crystal. There were several chambers, which he had no idea what they were for.

The fortress was surprising warm. It thoroughly kept out the arctic's frigged temperature and atrocious weather. It was not quite warm enough to wear short-sleeves, but it was moderately comfortable. The entire fortress was lit up, but he had no idea where the light was emanating from. If he had to take a wild guess, he would say the crystal walls, themselves, were producing the light.

Up ahead, to his left, was a platform with a crystal podium. There were several steps to get to the platform. It appeared to be where he needed to go, so he walked up onto the platform. There, in the platform, were empty slots except for one, which had the same green crystal that he had thrown. He reopened his backpack and commenced putting all the crystals into the empty slots.

His guess was right. There were just enough empty spots to fit all the crystals that he had with him. When the last crystal was slid in place, the room dimmed, and in one of the massive crystal pillars, a holographic image of Jor-El's head appeared. "Welcome, my Son. This is your Fortress of Solitude. Compiled here is information that spans thousands of different solar systems. This is where you will find answers to all of your questions."

"I'm here for my training," Clark announced.

"Your training begins now," Jor-El replied.

A bright light focused around him. For a second, he was blinded by the white light. When the spots faded, he found himself in space looking out at various galactic anomalies. Each anomaly was exceedingly colorful and exceptionally appealing to behold. Jor-El's voice came in very loud as if they were in a small room. "You were sent to Earth to be a beacon of hope. They have a capacity for good but are easily corruptible. You will inspire the people of Earth, and show them that one man can make a difference. Though you are to serve as an example, there are rules that you must abide by."

"What are the rules?" Clark asked.

"First of all, you are forbidden to get involved with Earth politics or join Earth's military. When they see your abilities, they will try to recruit you. Politicians are self serving and power hungry. If you got involved, the corruption would overwhelm you, and you will become like them. The best way for you to serve the people of Earth, is to avoid politics, altogether.

"Second of all, you are forbidden to interfere with the people's free will. A person who violates free will is a tyrannical dictator. Respect their beliefs, and their fears.

"Thirdly, you must respect the laws of Earth whenever you can. You must be an example to the world; but there may be times, that you might have to violate the laws to avert a disaster of cataclysmic proportions. You will have to decide when those times come. Do not let the people to become so dependent on you, that they refuse to think for themselves.

"Fourthly, you must maintain two separate identities. As Earth's mighty protector, you must not allow yourself to be easily accessed; or you will get sucked into their corruption. You must be in the world, though, to keep a watchful eye. That is why you must maintain your earthly identity. This will also serve as to protect your loved ones from those that would seek to cause you harm. Your enemies will try to exploit your compassion and your loved ones to get to you.

Clark listened to all the rules that Jor-El laid out before him. The rules made sense, and he agreed with all of them.

Jor-El had finished his rules and went to a new topic. "Though you are virtually indestructible, you are not invincible. The shuttle that I sent you to Earth in, has brought with it fragments from Krypton called kryptonite. In and of itself, a fragment is harmless. As I have told you earlier, Krypton was destroyed by nearing too close to the red sun. Krypton was saturated in it's radiation. Now, with the exposure to Earth's yellow sun, the combination can make the fragments deadly to you.

"The side effects to exposure to kryptonite will vary by the level of the combination of the two forms of radiation. The more saturated the fragment is, the deadlier the fragment is to you. Lower saturation levels will cause various of different non-lethal side effects. It may take your powers away, change your characteristics, or even make you temporarily stronger. The fragments that are more saturated can kill you by poisoning your blood stream. The more saturated the fragment is, the quicker it will kill you.

"The level of saturation from the red sun will also affect the fragment's appearance. There is no way for me to be certain, but my best scientific guess is that the lower saturated fragments will be lighter in color like red, yellow, and orange. The deadlier Kryptonite will, probably, be darker in color like green, blue, and black. Again, I can not be certain. It is best that you try to avoid contact altogether."

Clark was reminded of the incident back when he was younger. Lex Luthor had shown him a meteorite that his father had found. The pain he had felt when exposed to that meteorite was unforgettable. He finally understood what had happened to him on that day.

"You mentioned about a threat that may be coming to earth."

"In our galaxy, there is a planet called Apokolips. It is ruled by a tyrannical dictator called Darkseid. He and his army are responsible for conquering dozens of worlds. After he conquers a planet, he steals all of the planet's natural resources and then destroys the planet or transforms it into fire planet. By turning a planet into a fire planet, he creates another base to power his ships. Any planet that can not handle the transformation is destroyed in the process."

"How come no one is standing up to him?"

"Krypton has, my Son. Unfortunately, Krypton was the only planet technically advanced enough to challenge Darkseid. For several hundred years, Krypton has been at war with Apokolips. I suspect that Darkseid is ultimately responsible for the destruction of Krypton. I suspect that he somehow took the planet off it's normal orbit and caused it to orbit too close to the red sun. His contempt for Krypton has no bounds.

"By now, Darkseid has learned that you have escaped Krypton's destruction and is no doubt planning to come to Earth to conquer you and the planet. When that day comes, you have to be ready. Even with your enhanced powers, Darkeseid is still more powerful than you. On top of his strength, he is extremely intelligent. When it comes to war, there is no greater mind than his. Be very wary of everything. Just because he has not yet arrived on Earth, does not mean that he does not have forces already here at work against you."

Clark remembered the vision he had several months ago of the flames and an evil shadowy face along with a giant monster hidden on the other side of the flames. There was no doubt that Darkseid knew he was on Earth. Yet, another puzzle in his life that has been solved.

"You are now ready, my Son. What has felt like hours to you has actually been ten years. Your body has been properly nourished during this training. Now go and fulfill your destiny."

A bright light blinded Clark once again. Clark stepped out of the beam of light. He stepped in front of a crystal wall and saw his reflection. Indeed, he was ten years older. His eyes seemed bluer then they used to be, and that was not the biggest change. His hair was neatly combed and parted to the right. He had spit-curl over his forehead that also curled right.

He then noticed what he was wearing. It was so light; it almost felt like he was wearing nothing. He was wearing dark blue tights that felt smoother than any material than he had ever felt before. On his chest was his family crest slightly raised from the cloth. The 'S' was in the middle of a red-rimmed and yellow filled diamond. He also sported a very tight-looking red briefs kept up by a bright yellow belt with his family crest as the belt-buckle. He looked down at his feet to see that was wearing dull-red cowboy-like boots. To top it all off, he had a bright red cape with his family crest stitched in yellow in the center.

The suit was eye-catching, that much was obvious. Psychologically, it unmistakably cried out 'hero'. His father really did think of everything. Father? This was the first time Clark thought of Jor-El as his father.

With a satisfactory grin and a small leap, he raised his right fist over his head and took flight. Earth's greatest hero had arrived.


	14. The Daily Planet

**Chapter 14: The Daily Planet**

"Can someone tell me if _'Catastrophe'_ ends with an _'E'_ or an _'I-E'_?" Lois Lane asked as raced through the frantic bustle of the Daily Planet newsroom. Spelling was not her strong suit.

"Definitely, with just an _'E'_, Miss. Lane," The peppy Jimmy Olsen replied. "Hey Lois, you like my new camera? It's top of the line! It took me six months to save up for this puppy."

"That's nice, Jimmy," Lois replied, not paying attention to the enthused teenager. She was more focused on her story and getting to her desk to type it up. Whenever she would get a hot story, everything else did not matter.

She was almost to her desk until she ran into her boss, Perry White. He was a Daily Planet legend. He was praised as the best reporter that Daily Planet had ever had. It was an honor she was determined to establish for herself. His gray hair was testament of the thousands of wild stories he could tell about his days in the field.

"Oh Boss, good; do you spell _'conveyor'_ with an _'E'_ or an _'O'_?"

Perry had the appearance of someone who had a migraine. "Lois, we are living in the era of IPhone's and Blackberries, and how do you hand me your stories: typed using an outdated typewriter!" Perry pointed to the typewriter on her desk."

"Outdated? Let me tell you one thing, Boss: that typewriter is not outdated. It's electric!"

Yep, Perry had a migraine alright, and her name was Lois Lane. "I bought you this brand smackin' new Desktop." Perry used his right foot to tap on the computer that was underneath her desk. "It's a dandy little contraption that has something called a 'word processor' on it. If you used that to type up your reports, you wouldn't need to ask everyone, in the world, how to spell something, because it has an ingenious tool called a 'spell checker'.

"Boss, computers and I just don't get along together."

"I'll pay for classes. You need to learn how to use the computer," Perry snapped. He opened her top draw and pulled out an unopened box and dropped it on her desk. "How about this? This is the Blackberry that I gave you and It's unopened!"

"I just don't need a fancy phone like that. I have no room for it in my purse."

His headache was quickly getting worse. "Every reporter in the Daily Planet has one, and you haven't even opened yours. That's just great," he grunted. "You're lucky that you're a Pulitzer Prize award winning journalist. Just come with me to my office, will you?"

Lois followed him as instructed. She could not help that she was a strong woman. She was the daughter of a military general; it was in her blood. She probably would have gone into the military except for the fact that she had a nasty tendency to be clumsy. That was fine with her, because she loved what she did.

She was a remarkably attractive woman. She had a body that most women would die for. That came from all the exercise that was ingrained in her from her military father. Back in middle school, she was a rather plump little girl. Her father always chewed her out because of it. Since then, she had worked hard to maintain her figure; and it paid off in dividends. Wherever she went, men's jaws would drop. Despite her angelic looks, she had not been on a date since forever. It was her strong-will which intimidated men. They were all scared of her, and she was OK with that, as well. She was married to her work.

"What's this about, Boss?"

"There's someone I want you to meet." While everyone had cubical in the center of a large room, Perry had his own office separated by a glass panel with golden-brown blinds for each window pane. Perry opened the door for Lana who walked in to see a man sitting in the office. As she and Perry entered the room, he stood and smiled at them.

Her eyes widen when she saw how tall he was. "Well, hello, Big Boy," Lois purred. Not only was he uncommonly tall, but devilishly cute, as well. The black, plastic-framed glasses which would make anyone else look like a total geek, but for him, it made him even sexier.

Perry grunted as he closed the glass door behind them. "Am I going to have to sign you up for another seminar on sexual harassment?"

"Sorry, Boss," Lois replied, remembering the last time she had sat through one of those seminars. She had almost been thrown out for sleeping through part of it.

"Lois Lane, I want you to meet Clark Kent, Daily Planet's newest reporter."

"Nice to meet you," Clark nodded politely as he reached out his hand.

"Welcome to the Daily Planet," She replied, accepting the handshake gesture. "Wow, what a grip!" She said as she rubbed her sore hand.

"Oh, sorry about that," Clark apologized. He was usually better at controlling his strength than that.

"Mr. Kent, here, is a very promising reporter, a very fast typer, and he actually knows how to use a computer." Lana frowned. Was he ever going to get off her back about her and that stupid computer? What Perry said next was nothing short of a bombshell. "He is going to be your partner."

"Partner? I don't need a partner! I don't want a partner! This is not law enforcement!"

"This is just until Mr. Kent get's a handle on the way we do things here." Lois could only brood at the turn of events. "What are you still doing in my office? Go show Mr. Kent around."

Lois stormed out of the office; not concerned if Clark was behind her, or not. He was, however, and he followed her to her desk. The tension was thick, but he did not take offense to her reaction. "Listen, I realize you're losing valuable time helping me learn the tricks of the trade, but I just want you to know that I appreciate it, and I look forward to learning from you."

She looked at him with an expressionless face for a second before she grabbed the unopened Blackberry phone on her desk and tossed it over to Clark. "Here's a Blackberry for you." She turned and stormed off.


	15. Life In Metropolis

**Chapter 15: Life in Metropolis**

This visit could not have come at a worse time. Lex Luthor was preparing for the demonstration of the new military droid for his buyers, when MSCU Lieutenant Inspector Dan Turpin filed into his office. They had an ontogenic dislike of each other. The inspector was becoming an encumbrance to the growth and affluence of LexCorp, formerly known as LuthorCorp. Shortly after taking control of the company from his father, he had renamed the company after himself.

Lieutenant Turpin was just in his prime; his hair was only showing the first signs of senescent. Ever since an article in the Daily Planet had painted his company in a bad light, this man had been determined to bring him down. This was another one of his attempts to 'ruffle his feathers' and try to cause Lex to make an impulsive move. Lex was too intelligent for the lieutenant's games.

For a while, Lex enjoyed playing his little mind games. Any opportunity to show off his unrivalled intellect, to the ignorant, was well worth a few minutes of his time. However; Lieutenant Turpin had proven so dense, that he still could not see that he was not even in Lex's league. This game between the two of them had become tedious and infuriating, at best.

"I wish I could say that your visit is a pleasant surprise, Lieutenant Turpin; but there is no point lying to the MSCU," Lex said, leaning back in his chair, clasping his hands together on top of his chest.

"I wish I could say that your visit is a pleasant surprise, Lieutenant Turpin; but there is no point lying to a the MSCU," Lex said leaning back in his chair and folding his clasping his hands together on top of his chest.

"You hospitality never ceases to amaze me, Luthor," He replied, standing directly across from him, on the opposite side of Lex's cherry-wood, mahogany desk.

"I really am extraordinarily busy, right now. What do you need?"

"That's right. You have that demonstration tomorrow; I almost forgot."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"Got me again," Turpin replied. "To tell you the truth, I came to tell you that I will be present at your demonstration. If you are going to be demonstrating that kind of technology, here in Metropolis, I am going to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"You are going to be sourly disappointed, I fear," Lex responded. "How many times must I tell you, that everything that was stated in Miss Lane's article was completely fabricated? If I was lying, then you would have been able to find evidence to the contrary. That fact, I am still sitting here, is proof that no such evidence exists." This had nothing to do with the article written by Lois Lane, and Lex knew it. It was about Officer Turncoat.

Officer Turncoat had gotten too close to exposing Lex for the death of his own father. It took extremely careful planning, but he disposed of the snooping officer and planted some false information for Miss Lane to find. His plan had worked perfectly. The Daily Planet printed the false story. Turpin still suspected that he had killed the officer; but thanks to the, now, proven false story published by the Daily Planet, Lieutenant Turpin was the only man convinced otherwise. Lieutenant Turpin had butted heads with Commissioner Henderson on this issue numerous of times. Whether the commissioner knew or not, he was serving as Lex's protection.

The only other unfortunate result of all this, was that Miss Lane was starting to become a conundrum, as well. She was a much more arduous threat, due to her father being General Lane of the U.S. Military. Losing the military contract now, could prove disastrous to LexCorp.

Lieutenant Tarpin shook his head. "Somehow, I get the feeling that I'm going to get lucky this time." He turned around and walked out the same manner he had walked in.

Lex frowned in exasperation, as his assistant, Mercy, entered his giant office. She was the most loyal assistant whom Lex ever had. She was a physically appealing woman to boot. Her dedication to him suggested that she was attracted to him. He had contemplated reciprocating; but decided that she would serve him better if he continued to string her along, with just a hint of desire.

She was not afraid to get her hands dirty, and that's what he cherished the most about her. When making sure that his name was clear of all wrong-doing, there was no one better. He was so impressed, that if she continued doing this well, he would make her his successor. "He's up to something."

"Indeed," Lex agreed. "Whatever he is planning, he is going to involve Lois Lane."

"You think so, Boss?"

"It's what I would do. Both have become thorns in my flesh and needs to be dealt with."

"Tell me what to do, and then consider it done," Mercy replied, sitting on-top of his desk and crossing her legs to reveal her bare legs.

Lex ignored her advance. "I want you to take out Lois Lane this evening. Keep in mind that she is the daughter of General Lane. I do not need to tell you what would happen if he suspects that we have anything to do with her untimely demise."

"That goes without saying. Taking care of her is child's play," Mercy smiled. "How about Lieutenant Turpin?"

"I'm afraid he is going to be the victim in the tragic malfunction of our prototype, tomorrow, at the demonstration."

"Will that not deter the military from buying the droids?"

Lex smiled. "Under the request of General Lane, the droid is only allowed to perform in defense mode. That means it will only attack when it perceives a threat. Knowing Lieutenant Turpin, the moment he sees a malfunction, he is going to draw his weapon. The prototype will then see him as a threat and eradicate him. Sure, the government may delay any purchase of the units until a full inquiry is completed; but in the end, they will decide that Lieutenant Turpin's rash actions are ultimately to blame for his own death."

"Absolutely brilliant!" Mercy replied. "I just love the way your mind works."

* * *

Captain Maggie Sawyer met with Lieutenant Inspector Turpin, her boss, as he exited out of LexCorp. She was the captain of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit. She was the best officer under Turpin's command. It was like the two shared a mind. They shared the same aggressive passion in cleaning up the streets of Metropolis, and the same dislike for Lex Luthor. Working together for most of their careers, they trusted each other with their lives.

"So, do you think he will take the bait?"

"Yeah, I stirred up the hornets' nest, real well. Now, we just have to inform Miss Lane that we're on for tomorrow."

"Are you sure about this? I mean, you are really putting your neck on the line here. If something goes wrong, you can wind up dead."

"Sometimes it takes something big to bring down a big man," Turpin replied.

* * *

"Thanks again for the computer, Lois," Clark said, sitting at his new desk, which was next to her's. He was setting up his personal desktop settings, so he could more efficiently find and access the programs that he would be using the most.

"Believe me, it's no problem at all," she replied, sitting behind her electric typewriter. She swept the ground, underneath her desk, with her left foot. For the first time, her foot did not bang-up against a computer that she had kept stored under her desk.

"Kent, I've got your computer here." Perry White came walking up to their desks, pulling Jimmy along with him, who was carrying an unopened Dell PC and monitor combo package. The boy was struggling with the box, which was nearly half his size.

Perry froze when he saw Clark at his new desk, already at work with a computer. He looked over at Lois' desk to see that her computer was missing. "Why do I even bother?" Perry stormed off in the direction of his office.

"Uh, Mr. White?" Jimmy called out staggering after the Editor-in-chief.

Lois shrugged off Perry's reaction as she continued her article. "So, Clark Kent, where're you from?"

"Actually, I'm from Smallville?"

"You're joking, right?" Lois ceased her typing to look over at her new partner.

"No, I've lived there for all my life."

"So, why move to the big city of Metropolis, Smallville?"

Clark's right eyebrow raised at the nickname. "I like journalism, and Metropolis is only a few hours away from home. The Daily Planet is the perfect fit for me. "

"So you're a mama's boy," Lois remarked A loud vibration pattern echoed from her purse. She clutched the purse, dug around, and pulled out a pager which vibrated in her hands. On the monochrome screen, was a familiar ten-digit phone number. "Hate to cut the chit-chat, but I have an important meeting to attend."

"Seeing that we're partners, maybe I should come," Clark suggested, ready to stand from his desk.

"Not this time, Smallville. This one is between me and Lieutenant Inspector Turpin. This is going to be a little too dangerous for a rookie's first story." Lois stood up from her desk, threw the pager back in her purse and headed off to her meeting.

"Dangerous?" Clark muttered underneath his breath. "That does not sound good."


	16. Trouble Brewing

**Chapter 16: Trouble Brewing**

Lois Lane was at the café already working on her first cup of coffee. She assumed Lieutenant Turpin would not mind her getting a head start on her coffee intake. She had a feeling that she was going to need it. Night was beginning to fall over Metropolis. At night fall, the city began to become populated with more unsavory characters. At least she would be in the company of two of Metropolis' finest. Perhaps the lieutenant would be kind enough to escort her back to her apartment.

She waited patiently for him with her notepad ready to go, on the table. While waiting for Turpin, she found herself deep in thought. Strangely enough, her thoughts ended up on Clark Kent. The man was tall, dark, and handsome, but very mild-mannered and slightly goofy. No, she could not see herself settling down for someone like Clark Kent. They would drive each other crazy with their opposite personalities.

"Would you care for another cup of coffee?" The waitress asked, holding a pot of regular coffee in her hand. She looked at her mug on the table and noticed that she had finished her first cup.

"Why not," Lois replied, and returned to her thoughts. Her thoughts drifted to the matter at hand: Lex Luthor. She was helping the MSCU try to expose him as a criminal master mind instead of a rich corporate businessman. She had found evidence, awhile back, of some shady deals that he was involved in. After her story had been published, it turned out that everything she had discovered and written about were false. He had manipulated her to achieve whatever it was, that he had wanted to accomplish.

She still held a grudge against him. She hated being used as a pawn. Before that incident, she was a Pulitzer Prize award winner. It was long, hard fight to get her reputation back, but she had managed it do it. If this was a real opportunity to stick-it to Luthor for what he put her through, she was going to take it. At the very least, she will be able to convince her father to stop doing business with the man.

She found herself, already, half-way through her second cup when she took notice of the time on her watch. The Lieutenant was twenty minutes late. "That's funny."

She pondered if an emergency had come up that required his attention. She leaned back in her bench and sighed. She was willing to give him ten more minutes before she would leave. Until then, this cup of coffee would be her last.

An alarm went off outside which had everyone in the café out of their seats. Lois had her purse in hand as she shot out of hers, and ran to a window. The alarm was coming from the Metropolis United Bank, next door.

"Well, since this evening turned out to be a bust, might as well salvage something from it." She grabbed her notepad and pen and threw them in her purse. She also dug out a ten dollar bill and threw it on the counter. Today's waitress was going to get a very nice tip.

She hustled between a few people who were standing in her way from reaching the door. Everyone was curious about what was going on, but none of them were willing to leave the safety of the café. Lois was another matter all together. She was the type to head towards the danger. After all, you did not get as good as she was without taking some risk.

She cautiously made her way next door. When she reached the small alley she peeked around the corner to make sure no one was hiding in the shadow. When she saw that it was clear, she walked across to reach the bank. She neared the window and cautiously peeked through. She could see a bunch of people lying on the floor with hands on top of their heads. She counted two robbers standing in the foyer, both with machine guns in her hands. There was no hope for getting a good look at them; they were wearing ski masks and their backs were towards her.

"Okay, this is obviously a well thought out heist. There has to be at least four of them in there and perhaps…"

"Don't move," a voice said behind her, followed by the sound of a gun cocking.

"…a lookout man," Lois muttered under her breath, raising her hands over her head.

"Move it," the masked man pushed the barrel of his hand-held gun between her shoulder blades.

"Watch it buddy, or I'll show you what you can really do with that gun."

"Shut up!" the man replied, shoving her forward.

Her quick temper washed over her like a Tsunami. Before she knew what she was doing, she spun around and slapped him across the face. It was only after the fact that she knew that she had probably just signed her death warrant.

The colossal thug shared the same short temper as she did, and he exploded in the same manner as well. "Hell, you ain't worth it!" He raised his gun up to her head.

She had no time to think or react. She knew that her life was about to come to an abrupt end. In the end, she did not regret her actions, and that was what was important. She raised her chin up in defiance. If she was going to die, she was going to die with honor.

She heard the click of the gun before everything flashed white before her eyes.


	17. A Super Man

**Chapter 17: A Super Man**

Lois crumbled onto her knees, dazed, but still conscious. The leader, of the group of robbers, was standing on the other side of her, holding the gun by the barrel. After striking her in the head with the handle of his gun, he twirled the gun around in his hand. "What were you thinking, man? We can't kill her like that."

"She's going to be too much trouble. We don't need her," the bulky hooligan responded.

"Dude, we are being paid to dispose of her, so it has to be done the way the boss wants. We are to as a hostage until we get to the chopper; and once we're up and away, we dump her. We can't deviate from the plan, unless you want to be the one thrown out of the chopper."

"Fine," the large thug relented with a snarl in his voice.

"What the hell are you guys just standing around for?" Three more robbers running out of the Bank; one of them was carrying a satchel full of cash.

The wailing of a police sirens started fading in from the distant background. "Let's move it, people! The cops are coming! Get her up and let's get going."

The muscular hooligan grunted as he reached down, grabbed Lois by the wrist, and pulled her violently onto her feet. "Move it!" He jostled her forward.

"Watch it, Bucko."

* * *

Captain Maggie Sawyer was driving Lieutenant Inspector Dan Turpin in response to the robbery. Turpin was on the cell phone with someone at the Daily Planet. Based on what Turpin was saying on the phone, he was not talking to Lois Lane like he had hoped. "Can you repeat that, Mr. Kent."

The tone in Turpin's voice concerned her. Something was wrong. She pondered if their incapability of getting a hold of Lois Lane had something to do with this bank robbery. She could not help but smell Lex Luthor's hand at work.

"Crud!" Turpin cursed as he hung up his cell phone.

"What happened, Inspector?"

"She received a page from my cell phone number. Someone used my number to page her."

"Luthor!" she responded angrily.

"There is no doubt in my mind. Miss Lane knew where to meet when the time came. What are the odds of the bank right next door to her, is robbed, right when she receives a false page telling her to meet me there?"

"So thanks to the eyes in the sky, we know that they have taken a hostage, and odds are that the hostage is Lois Lane. Do you think we have a prayer at nailing Luthor with this?"

It would be a dream come true, if they would be able to tie Luthor to this crime; but something told Turpin, that in the end, Luthor would end up coming out of this squeaky clean. "Let's rescue Miss Lane, and hope for the best."

* * *

Clark pressed the 'End' button on his new Blackberry phone. Now he knew that Lois was in trouble. He asked the chief about what Lois was involved in. All Perry knew, was that it had something to do with MCSU Lieutenant Inspector Dan Turpin and helping them with a case. Based on the response he had just gotten from the lieutenant, Clark knew that he was not the one to page Lois.

"Hey Jimmy?" Clark waved over. Jimmy was walking by, on his way to the elevator to head home for the evening.

"Hey, Mr. Kent. You're working late for your first day on the job," Jimmy said, responding to Clark's hail.

Clark ignored the question and went right to asking Jimmy his own question. "What is Lois working on with Lieutenant Turpin?"

"Oh, that? Actually, we're both working with the MCSU. We're trying to expose Lex Luthor as the criminal mastermind of Metropolis."

"Lex Luthor? A criminal mastermind?"

"Oh yeah, everyone in Metropolis believes he is a crime lord. Trying to prove it is another matter altogether, though. Crime in Metropolis is on the rise, the city is in financial trouble, and yet Lex Luthor is getting richer and buying more and more of Metropolis. In a few years, he may own the whole city. Rumors has it, that he is setting his sights on buying the Daily Planet."

That sounded like Luthor's Father, alright. Could Lionel Luthor actually have pushed his son too far? Everyone in Metropolis seems to think so. Lois Lane also seemed to think so, as well. If Luthor had gone off the deep end, then Lois could be in deep trouble, right now. "Is something up, Mr. Kent?"

"I hope not, Jimmy," Clark replied, as he stood up, grabbed his tan trench coat, and made his way to the elevator.

"Something is definitely up!" Jimmy said to himself. With his camera strapped around his neck, he set off to follow Clark.

* * *

The police had caught up to them. This whole plan was starting to fall apart. They had wasted too much time at the bank, and now it was going to come down to a foot race. "Blast it! The cops are right behind us," the bandit Lois' right in the back seat cursed.

"Cool it, we have a hostage. There's way they are going to try something."

Lois rolled her eyes. She was wrong about how professional these guys were. These guys were bumbling morons. There was a brief moment that she was convinced that Lex Luthor had arranged this. Now, she was certain that she was only a victim of circumstance.

"Hold on everyone! I have an idea that will buy us some time," The driver replied. He hit the brakes hard, resulting with everyone in the back seats hitting their heads on the backs of the seats. All the cars, behind them, screamed in protest, trying not to rear-end robbers' car. The driver, pulled hard on the steering wheel, and the rear of the car spun around, to even itself with the front. The car ended up blocking all lanes right in front of a tall tower. The one-way street quickly blocked-up with angry drivers.

"Are you out of your mind?" Lois went ballistic. "That was the most half-brained, idiotic…"

A hand came out of nowhere and slapped her across the face. "How many times must you be told to shut up?"

"Let's go! Out of the car, now!" The driver ordered.

* * *

Sawyer barley had enough time to bring the car to an abrupt halt to avoid rear ending the car in front of them. In a flash, they were surrounded by other drivers in the same situation. "That was close."

Turpin threw the door open and stood up. He could not help but notice that they were right in front of Lexcorp Tower. A block down the road, he could see the robbers, with Lois Lane, making their way into a skyscraper. All the buildings, between Lexcorp and the tower, were no more than ten stories tall. "This has Luthor's stench all over it. He wants to see firsthand, that the job is done right."

"We'd better take this by foot," Sawyer said, already out of the car. She pulled her gun from her brown, shoulder holster.

* * *

The robbers pushed their way into the entrance of the skyscraper, with Lois stuck in the middle of the group. The leader pointed his machine gun up in the air and released a shower of bullets into the ceiling. "Out of the way!"

The crowded foyer began to empty out as all the panicked people were desperate to get out of the tower alive. The group pushed their way to the elevators.

* * *

Clark used his super hearing to guide him through the streets of Metropolis. When he came up to the traffic jam, he knew he was getting close. He followed the traffic jam until he reached a police barrier that was in progress of being set up in front of a skyscraper. This was where the action was taking place. He looked up at the top of the tower, and with his superior vision, he could see a helicopter parked on a helicopter pad on top of the roof.

"I knew you had a nose for danger," Jimmy said excitedly as he took a snapshot of the police setting up the police barrier.

"Jimmy?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kent. It sounded to me that you were on your way to a story, so I followed you. If I don't bring pictures back of this, I could lose my job."

Clark could understand his position. It was his job to take pictures for the Daily Planet, but the last thing Clark needed right now was to be followed by the boy. Having him around would make it hard for him to slip away. He had to come up with an excuse to lose him. "Sorry Jimmy, I'm still new to things. I promise I won't forget to bring you when I learn a story is breaking."

"It's no problem, Mr. Kent," Jimmy replied.

Did anything ever dampen the mood of that boy? "Why don't you stay here and take some more pictures. I'm going to go see if I can get any interviews from any of the police officers."

"Sure thing," Jimmy replied as he took another picture. "Before you go, can I ask you something? I-" Jimmy turned around to see that Clark was already gone. "Wow, he's fast."

* * *

The moment the elevator doors opened, the robbers pushed their way out, with Lois stuck in the middle. They got out onto the last floor and then made their way to the stairwell. They could all smell success as they stormed up the stairwell, onto the rooftop.

The leader, of the gang, kicked the steel door open and ran ahead of the group to prepare the helicopter for take-off. The four remaining robbers forced Lois towards the Bell 206L Lone Ranger.

As they arrived at the helicopter, they opened the door and pushed her in first. As they loaded from both sides of the helicopter, she was forced to sit between the two of the bulkiest hooligans including the one that nearly shot her in front of the bank.

The passenger cabin on the Bell 206L Lone Ranger was very luxurious and roomy. The seats were all leather, and the floor was carpeted. It was almost like sitting in the back of a limousine.

The main and tail rotors came to life. As the thugs were ready to slam the doors shut, two bullets came just short of hitting one of them in the head. All of them looked over by the door to see Turpin and Sawyer with their guns in hand.

"Get this thing up!"

The helicopter slowly began to lift up off the pad. "No!" Turpin unleashed everything he had, hoping to hit something that might bring the helicopter back down. The robber to Lois' left grabbed for his machine gun.

This was her only chance to escape. She had to take advantage of the distraction now. Without warning, she spun around and broke the nose of the man on her right, with her elbow. She took his heavy machine gun and threw it in the face of the man sitting across from her. She leaped over the man to her left, knocking the gun out of his hands and out of the helicopter, in the process. With everything she had, she tried to claw over the thug for the door.

"Don't let her escape!" The thug up in the co-pilot screamed.

Lois found herself in a wrestling match with the man she was trying to get past. The other two thugs in the passenger cabin were quick to come to his aid, and the three of them pulled her back in. "Let me go!"

"Just throw her over now, for Pete's sake," the leader said, as he piloted the starboard side of the helicopter over the ledge of the skyscraper.

"Don't you dare!" Lois screamed.

The two hefty men pulled her to the other side of the helicopter while the other went over and opened the starboard door. She swung wildly trying anything she could think of to save herself. The combined strength of the two thugs was too much for her. She was helpless to save herself as they pushed her out the door.

* * *

The crowd of bystanders, who surrounded the police barricade, gasped when they saw a woman falling down the side of the skyscraper. Jimmy tried to focus the lens on the falling woman, but could not get a clear enough shot.

A sudden gust of wind blew over him with such force, he nearly fell forward. "What was that?"

His question was answered when he saw what looked like a man in blue and red, flying up the side of the building. "Whoa!" Jimmy gasped, as he raced to get a picture. He was stunned beyond words. An actual man was flying up the side of the giant tower. Everyone around him shared his amazement.

* * *

She had been falling only for a few seconds, but a million thoughts had raced across her mind in that time. How was her father going to take this? How was the Daily Planet going to report her death? If Jimmy was down there, would he be respectful with any pictures he may try to publish?

Falling backwards towards the ground, she had no idea how far she had until death claimed her. She supposed it was better not to know. It was bad enough to know that it was coming.

Her free fall was surprisingly interrupted and she found herself in the arms of a man in blue tights with a giant _'S'_ on his chest. "Do not worry, I have you," the man said with a warm smile on his face.

"Wha-?" Lois looked down and she was in confounded. The man was flying without any type of vehicle. Was she dead? Was she dreaming?

* * *

Lex did not have to say anything for Mercy to know that he was as shocked as she was. For a brief moment, they had thought the job was done. They watched as Lois Lane fell down the side of the building. It was all ruined by the impossible. Something, or someone, had caught her; and now they were flying back up towards the rooftop.

"Unbelievable!" Mercy said out loud. "Everything went perfectly up until this!"

Lex did not reply. She knew he was staggered by what he was seeing, but he displayed no emotion. He remained in his seat, deep in thought. He was processing what he was now seeing.

* * *

The pilot lost control of the helicopter. One of the bullets from the police officers must have hit something important. "I can't control her!" the leader shouted. He did his best to lower the helicopter towards the helicopter pad. The rooftop now had five additional police officers, but at least they would still be alive.

They were, now, close enough that the three men in the passenger cabin leaped out of the helicopter and landed on the landing pad without obtaining any injuries. After picking themselves up, they ran to clear room for the helicopter when they were met by the police.

The helicopter swerved as the leader tried to land. A sudden complete loss of control caused him to land on the corner of the rooftop. Immediately, the weight of the helicopter pulled it over the ledge, as the main and tail rotors died. One of the landing skids banged up against the side of the skyscraper, causing it spin. One of the rotor blades pierced through one of the windows of the skyscraper before the blade snapped. The starboard-side door to the passenger cabin was ripped off it's hinges with the impact.

"Oh god!" Lois yelped, seeing the helicopter falling right for them.

Clark focused his vision, and fired two heat beams. The beams shot through the passenger cabin and knocked the port-side door off it's hinges.

"Wait, you're not-"

She did have time to finish. She cringed as they flew through the passenger cabin. The moment he was through, He doubled his pace up the building until he reached the ledge.

On the rooftop, there were five police officers with Lieutenant Turpin and Captain Sawyer. They had three of the five robbers already in handcuffs. The look on everyone's face said it all.

"Holy crap," Turpin nearly dropped his gun.

The moment his feet touched the ground, he gently put her down on her feet "Pardon me for a second," he said politely.

He speedily turned around and head first, over the ledge. Turpin and Sawyer joined Lois at the ledge, and looked down to see the him racing back down the side of the skyscraper. "Are you all seeing what I seeing?" Sawyer asked.

* * *

Jimmy had gotten himself right up to the police barrier to try to get the best possible shot of the man in blue and red tights. That turned out to be the mistake of his life. The h was coming down, and he was directly in it's path. There was no time to react. He was surrounded by too many people and cars to move far enough away. He ducked as low as he could and close his eyes, waiting for everything to go dark.

Death never came. He opened his eyes and looked up. If seeing a man fly up the side of a skyscraper was not outrageous enough, what he was now seeing was. Hovering over everyone's head was the man in blue and red tights; holding the helicopter over his head by one of the landing skids. "Wow!" Jimmy gawked. The man was so close; he could almost touch his red boot. The man was taller than he thought, and most definitely human in appearance. The man did sport some impressive muscles, but Jimmy was not sure if his muscles were big enough to explain his ability to lift a helicopter over his head.

He took advantage of the photo-op and took a clean, crisp picture. This picture was going to be the front page photo of the Daily Planet, and he knew that he was finally going to get some respect from this day forwards.

The man began to fly upwards, pushing the helicopter up the side of the tower. Everyone on the ground applauded man who had swooped in and saved the day.

* * *

No one on the rooftop could believe what they were seeing. This mysterious superhero had pushed a helicopter back up the tower. Turpin, Sawyer, and Lois backed away as the hero landed on the helicopter pad and gently placed it on it's landing skids.

He did not stop there. He walked to the port-side door and ripped the door off it's hinges with his bare hands. Both the pilot and co-pilot looked as if they had wet themselves. The man took grabbed the pilot by his collar and pulled him out of the ship. After releasing him, he went back and got the co-pilot. He brought both of them to Turpin.

"Here you go, Inspector. I believe these two will not prove to be any more trouble." He looked towards Lois. "Are you alright, Miss Lane?"

"Huh, yeah," For once in her life, she was at a loss for words.

He smiled and nodded. He turned and headed towards the ledge. His job was done and now it was time to take off.

"Hey wait!" Turpin called out. "Who are you?"

He looked back and smiled. "Just someone who wants to help." With a small leap, he took to the sky, and everyone watched in awe.

* * *

Jimmy watched the man fly off into the distance. He could hardly believe what he had just witnessed. The excitement was still going strong among all the people who were there. This was going to be something that everyone was going to be talking about for a long time to come.

"Hey Jimmy, what's all the hullabaloo about?" Clark asked as he snuck through the crowd to reach the young man.

"Are you kidding? Did you miss everything that just happened? A man _'flew'_ up the side of this building, saved a woman who was thrown from a chopper, and then raced back down to save all of us from the chopper which had lost power. It was totally awesome!"

"You're pulling my leg," Clark replied, acting as if he didn't believe him. "A man who can fly? That sounds a little like science fiction to me."


	18. Corben's Destiny

**Chapter 18: Corben's Destiny**

The incident with the super freak and the bank robbers proved to be very profitable for John Corben. Everyone was so distracted by the sight of the _'superhero'_, that he had no problems, at all, pick pocketing quite a few men in the crowd. When he could not hide another wallet on his person, he called it the night and went home.

His home was a run-down apartment in a complex that should have been condemned. His apartment was made worse by his lack of cleaning skills. His card table, which served as his dining room table, was almost completely covered in used beer bottles. His sink was overflowing with dirty dishes just like his trash can was overflowing with trash. There were holes in the floor caused by rodents and cracks and mold on the ceiling.

John's life has not always been this rotten. He used to be a reporter for the Daily Planet. He worked closely with a reporter named Lois Lane. He even had a thing for her. She never reciprocated his feeling, but he convinced himself that she would have come around if he had not been caught plagiarizing one of her articles. That stunt had cost him his job and any chance of winning her heart. From that point on, his life had gone to hell.

Coming home after his most successful evening, he quickly took a tally of his profits. He acquired three hundred dollars in cash, and over a dozen credit cards which he could sell for a nice profit. When all was said and done, he calculated that he had made over a thousand dollars in profit.

To celebrate, he called Tess and asked her out on a date. They had only met once, and he took an instant liking to her. He must have made a good impression on her, since she said _'yes'_ rather quickly.

Sadly, the day was to go downhill from there. He took her to his favorite bar. She was less than thrilled about going to a bar for a first date. Sitting at the table, he ordered some boneless buffalo wings for them. She did not seem to like that, too much; nor was she happy about him already being on his second bottle of beer.

She tried to strike-up a discussion. The very first thing she asked about was his career. He told her that he was a fork-lift driver. That was when he took notice of the news on the corner television. All the reporter could talk about was about Metropolis' new _'superhero'_.

The more he saw of that loser, the angrier he became. All his life, he was surrounded by people who had to do nothing to receive respect. That ticked him off more than anything. In school, kids like Clark Kent were well liked, and he did nothing to earn that respect. Lex Luthor got sympathy and respect only because of his inability to grow hair. Here was a man, who came out of nowhere, and jumps right into the spotlight; and now everyone virtually worshiped him.

It was sickening. Never in his life had John ever been given respect for doing nothing. He was pretty much ignored as a child by his parents. His father was a drunk, and his mother was always high on crack. To get any attention, or to make friends, he had to work hard. He had to work hard to keep his friend's respect.

Here, he was on a date, not getting any respect from his date, and forced to watch everyone in the bar go gaga over this flying moron. He was only glad that his date had not taken an interest on the news.

* * *

After several failed attempts to strike a conversation with him, Tess had given up. She was quickly losing her patience. All she was doing, was watching him drink beer and eating boneless buffalo wings. This was not the date she had imagined. Just sitting there, watching him, was making her sick.

She was now convinced, that even though the guy had good looks, he was a complete jerk. There was not one romantic bone in his body. He was as cold as metal. She regretted that she did not insist meeting him here instead of allowing him to pick her up. She was stuck, depending on this jerk, for a ride.

She decided to try to send him the hint, that she wanted to go home. She hoped ignoring him, like he was ignoring her, would send the message to him. She swerved around in her chair and watched the news.

She had heard the news about the flying hero, but she was taken aback by the images she was seeing on the screen. The man was downright handsome. She stood up from her chair and walked closer to the television to hear the news better. As she did, she could hear him slam down the bottle of beer onto the table. He was starting to get the message.

A close up shot of the hero was shown on the screen. "Wow, he is cute!" She marveled. "Have you heard about this?"

She turned back towards the table, but saw that he was already out the door. The jerk had stranded her at the bar. She was at a loss for words. Never had she been treated so dispensable before. The bartender only added insult to injury. "I hate to bring this up, but who's gonna' pay the bill?"

* * *

Lex had seen the footage replay dozens of times now. The media was falling in love with him, and that did not bode well with him. If this 'hero' planned on sticking around, Metropolis would begin to depend upon him instead of Lex. This was something he could not have. A new threat had come to his empire, and he was going to have to deal with it.

The first thing he needed to do was to learn about his enemy. Lex had to know if this man would show up again. If he did, Lex wanted to be there in person to study his mannerism and characteristics. Perhaps he could be bought with a job. If not, maybe Lex could learn a weakness.

He also was curious about the identity of this hero. The close-up footage of him did very little to give him a good look of his face. From what he could see though, Lex thought he looked vaguely familiar, as if he was a blast from his past.

"I am so sorry about the screw up," Mercy pleaded before Lex. The fear in her eyes showed that she was afraid for her job. She had taken the full blame for the fowl up of Lois Lane's demise.

"The events of today are not your fault. However, we do have a bigger problem than Lois Lane and the Inspector General.

"Superman?"

Lex gave her a puzzled look. "Superman?"

"That is what some of the people, interviewed by WGBS News, are calling him."

Lex found the information irrelevant and decided to ignore it. "This hero could prove to be my biggest threat, but he can also be my greatest ally. We need to find out which he will be. Instead of using tomorrow's destination to get rid of Turpin, we will use it to draw out this so-called hero. At the very least, we will learn everything we need to know about him."

"Tell me what you want, and I'll get right to it."

Lex grinned. "I want you to find an old acquaintance of mine. His name is John Corben. I want him to be the one to sabotage the prototype. Trust me; he will jump at this if he thinks it will hurt me. Have him approached by someone pretending to be my competitor. Feed Corben the story that I stole the technology. Make sure he get these instructions that will show him how to sabotage it." Lex handed her a folder.

"You're making John Corben the fall-guy?"

Lex had never forgotten about John Corben. He had made his life, in school, hell. When his father took him out of public school, Lex told his father about Corben. At his age, Lex had hoped to get some sympathy from his father; but instead, he hung it over his head, every chance he had. Lex had desperately wanted to forget about him; but even now, he could hear his father reminding him that he was weak, for allowing Corben to bully him. Since the day Lex got rid of his father, he had kept a close eye on him. The fool was long overdue for what Lex was about to do to him.

"If things go badly, yes. If things go well, I may have other uses for him."


	19. Reunions

_**Author's Note: **I want to apologize, I have been misspelling Lex Luthor's personal assistant's name. When listening to the animated episodes, it sounded like her name was Marci. Her name is actually Mercy Graves. I have gone back an fixed the error. In this chapter, just know that I changed her name from Marci to Mercy._

**Chapter 19: Reunions**

The next day, all of Metropolis was abuzz with the news about the Super Man. The day's headline of every media outlet was about Metropolis' new hero. Everyone seemed hungry for more information, but very little was known about him. Everyone wanted to know if he would return again.

As a result, everything that was to happen today had changed. Turpin's plan, to try to use the demonstration to expose Luthor, had come unraveled. What was supposed to be a private demonstration had been forced into becoming a public one. All the media were now attending the demonstration. For some reason, everyone assumed that Lex Luthor had something to do with this new hero.

"This is a joke," Turpin cursed. "The media is only here to try to be the one news outlet to report on exclusive information on this Superman. If I was a betting man, I would say that Luthor is threatened by him. All these idiots are doing is ruining our operation."

"We could still get lucky," Sawyer replied, even though she was trying to convince herself of it, as well.

"With this many reporters present, I doubt Lex would take the risk of trying anything," Lois added. She looked to his other side to see Clark not willing to make any comments on the matter. He was only there to protect her after what happened yesterday.

"To be honest, this whole operation became a bust after yesterday. You're definitely living up to your reputation, Miss Lane. After everything you went through, yesterday, I was ready to call the whole thing off."

"I am my father's daughter," she shrugged.

"You certainly are," General Lane replied, stepping up to the group. His green military uniform was neat and pressed like always. His hair was short and silvery-gray. His pointed mustache made him look, very much, like Ted Turner. "I should have known that you would be here with your media friends. I swear; I don't know where I went wrong with you."

"Hi, Daddy," Lois said with a false smile on her face. Clark instantly picked up on Lois' tension. It appeared that her relationship, with her father, was strained. If he knew about what his daughter had just gone through, he did not show it.

"This demonstration was supposed to be private. This does not concern the public; it is a matter of national security and only concerns the U.S. armed forces and the Department of Homeland Security."

"Well, General, the appearance of this super character changed everything, now didn't it?" Turpin responded before Lois could comment.

"This _'Superman'_, as everyone is calling him, has no business here. If he knew what was good for him, he would go back into hiding. The United States cannot condone vigilantism."

Lois gasped, stunned by what his father had just said. "He is a hero, Dad. I hope he is for real; Metropolis could really use a hero, right now."

"He can't be for real," General Lane replied to his daughter. "He is a threat to our national security, any way you look at it. Even if he had the best of intentions, no man is above the law. If he seeks to continue to do good works, then he must do it under the authority of this government."

"Only you, Dad, would want to recruit him into the military," Lois said in disgust. "Sometimes, I don't believe we're even related."

Her father shook his head, "Sometimes I say the same thing. Where did my daughter ever learn to disrespect the good ol' U.S. of A?"

* * *

Lex peeped around the curtain, looking out at the gathering of top military leaders. The press and the added security from, the MPD and the MCSU, were unwelcomed additions to this demonstration. He had no choice but to grant them access after yesterday's fiasco.

With all the media now present, he was going to get more bad-press than he had bargained for. John Corben should be getting ready to sabotage the battle unit any time now. He was now jeopardizing his whole business, on the slim chance that Superman would make a reappearance.

"So what do you want to do? Do you want to lead the local authorities to arrest John Corben, before he does his work, or not?" Mercy asked. Time was up; Lex had to make a decision, now.

Lex was about to say 'Yes', when Lex saw Lois Lane out with all the reporters. Standing next to her was a blast from his past: Clark Kent. He began to build a mental picture in his head. What were the chances that Clark Kent appears in Metropolis around the same time as Superman makes his first appearance? The two did have an uncanny resemblance.

Perhaps his gamble was paying off. His first hunch, he had gotten when seeing Superman on the television, seemed to be accurate. There was only one way to be absolutely certain.

"No, I have an idea. I am now certain Superman will make an appearance today. Let John Corben complete his task, and then make sure that both the MPD and the MCSU are made aware of his crime."

"So, he is going to take the fall?" Mercy was trying to figure out what her boss was up to.

"Not quite. I think he will make an excellent candidate for Professor Vale's experiment, if you catch my drift."

She knew exactly what experiment he was referring to. She could not help but marvel at his intellect. His plan was cruel, but utterly genius. If only she could get him to take an interest in her.

"Also, before we get this demonstration on the road, do you see that tall reporter standing next to Lois Lane?"

Mercy looked around the curtain to see who he was referring to. She found Lois Lane and then found the tall reporter, with thick, wavy, black hair standing next to her. "Wow, he's a cute."

"That's him. I want to talk to him in private, right away."

"I can't say that I recognize him. Do you know him?"

"I used to," Lex replied.

* * *

"Well, this demonstration is late getting started," Lois complained. She looked back to see that Lieutenant Turpin was getting restless too.

"I'm sure things will get started soon," Clark replied.

"Excuse me," an attractive young woman approached them. She wore a black and red blouse with a black knee-high skirt. It went rather well with her long dark-red hair and intense-green eyes. "My name is Mercy Graves. I am Lex Luthor's personal assistant. Lex wants to have a personal talk with you."

Lois laughed mockingly. "I'm sure he does. I wouldn't be caught dead, talking to him in private."

"That's nice," Mercy said coldly. "I wasn't talking to you, Miss Lane. He wants to talk to you, Mr. Kent."

"Me?"

"Clark?" She was beside herself. "What does a man like that, want with you?"

Clark raised his right eyebrow. He knew that she did not mean that the way it came out. He decided to let it slide. "He and I were friends in elementary school."

"You went to school with him?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor is pressed for time," Mercy said, seeing that this discussion between them could lead into a discussion that no one had time for.

"I'll be right back, Lois. I'll see what he wants."

* * *

John Corben had successfully snuck into the auditorium through the emergency exit. This was turning out to be easier than he had thought. He had spent all night memorizing his instructions.

This was an opportunity to ruin Lex Luthor's life. That was certainly a positive in his book, but he was more into the money that was offered to him. Last night, he was visited by a business man who called himself Dale Cover. Mr. Cover thought that Corben could be hired just on the fact that he hated Luthor. His hatred for Luthor was not enough; after all, what would hurting him accomplish? Corben's life would still be in the pits.

When Mr. Cover offered him a good payday, he had no choice, but to take the job. It was an amount that would change his life forever. He would be a fool not to take it, despite the risk. It beats picking pockets and other petty theft jobs, hands down.

He stealthy looked around backstage for the prototype, which was not hard to find at all. The unit was standing in front of the giant, red curtain. Just as Mr. Cover explained, the ginormous android was a very intimidating ten foot tall monstrosity. He almost felt inadequate about what he was being asked to do. He was no technician or robotic engineer.

He mentioned that to Mr. Cover last night, but he assured him that if he kept, strictly, to the easy-to-follow instructions, he would do just fine. He spent the night memorizing the process of sabotaging the prototype until he was confident he knew it forwards and backwards.

He found the computer station just off the platform, just as Mr. Cover had predicted. That station was what he wanted, but there was not one engineer or scientist around. He could not believe his luck; this made things ridiculously easy. Everyone had to be at a pre-demonstration meeting, and that meant he could accomplish, what he needed to do, and get out without being seen.

* * *

Mercy led Clark out of an emergency exit at the side of the giant auditorium. Waiting right out the side door was Lex, in his gray sports suit. When he saw Clark, his face lit up. "It has been a very long time, my old friend."

"It sure has," Clark agreed, shaking his hand. He was, definitely, a much different person, than the boy he knew in elementary school. He was still shorter than most men, due to Hallermann-Streiff syndrome. When he was a kid, he was bullied relentlessly because of it. Now, he had overcome his weakness to become the most powerful man in Metropolis. Clark could see the spirit of Mr. Lionel Luthor in Lex's eyes. "How's Rachel doing?"

Clark remembered the date he had with Lana Lang. For him, it was like only a week ago. Being frozen at the fortress, he lost about ten years of his life. Before going on his quest, he learned that the woman in the limo was Rachel McMarcel. He only hoped he did not expose too much of himself to Lex by asking about her.

"Rachel and I have been divorced for five years," Lex said somberly. "I suppose I enjoy being married to my job more."

"I see you took a job at Daily Planet. I never took you for a reporter."

"I discovered my calling back at Smallville High."

"Smallvile," Lex glowered at the mention of the name. "You may have fond memories of that dirt ball of a place, but I despised it with a passion."

Clark could understand his feelings towards their home town, but there was something very creepy in his voice when he said that. "Don't you have a demonstration to host?"

"The military leaders can wait," he replied. "Remember the good times we used to have as friends? We can have that again. Come work with me as a partner in Lexcorp. We can change the world for the better."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea, Lex. Honesty, I am opposed to building weapons," Clark responded. The thought of going into the arms business made him sick to his stomach.

"Lexcorp does much more than build weapons, Clark. We have the AWM-101A prototype missile. For many years, the government has been manipulating weather by the process of cloud seeding. This process is when they release dry ice or silver iodide into the clouds, which causes them to produce more rain. This process has been going on for decades.

"The AWM-101A, simplifies the whole process. This missile is shot into the air, carrying water up with it. When it explodes, the water evaporates rapidly, and forms instant cumulus clouds. Imagine what this means for water deprived nations."

Clark could not argue that the technology sounded great; but all Clark could think about was the consequence if the technology fell into the wrong hands. What if Lex's hands were the wrong hands?

"I appreciate the offer, Lex; but I feel I can do the most good where I am."

"I can appreciate that," Lex replied, clearly disappointed by the rejection. "Though, my more recent plans, of purchasing the Daily Planet, will have you working for me soon, anyway."

"I'll take my chances," Clark said, now certain that their friendship was officially over.

Lex watched his old friend head back into the auditorium. When Clark was out of his sight, all of his anger was released. He hated being rejected. A rejection meant that an obstacle was forming between him and his goals. Obstacles were meant to be torn down, and Clark had made himself an obstacle.

Lex reached into his pocket and pulled out the small, led-lined steel box which held the meteorite that his father had given to him. It was the same meteorite that made Clark sick back in elementary school. With all of his unfathomable powers, his one weakness was this unusual green-glowing meteorite. Fortunately, since acquiring this rock from his father, he had found a vast amount of glowing meteorites of many different colors. It appeared that his collection was going to pay off.


	20. The Demonstration Goes Awry

**Chapter 20: The Demonstration Goes Awry**

Clark rejoined Lois amid all the reporters. He could still see the contempt on her face when he arrived. She was a woman who refused to let go of her grudges against Lex; and he was starting to gain an understanding on why. "So how did your little chat go with your best friend?"

"We used to be friends," he corrected. "Now, I do not know who that that man is, anymore."

Lois did not say anything; but the look of suspicion, on her face, said everything. They looked towards the stage where Lex Luthor was now standing at the podium.

* * *

With the help of Lieutenant Inspector Turpin, Jimmy was able to sneak around backstage. He and Captain Sawyer had gone over with him several different scenarios, if he was caught. It appeared that he was not going to need any of them; the backstage was completely deserted. He could hear Lex Luthor starting the presentation on the other side of the curtain. He did not have much time remaining.

"Wow, where's all the security at?"

Jimmy had his person digital camera with him instead of his professional lens camera. His digital camera was capable of recording video, which would be more useful as evidence for the either the MPD or MCSU. Installed in it was the highest capacity memory card available on the market, thanks to the investment from Lieutenant Turpin.

Jimmy walked unchallenged through the giant backstage area. He could not shake the feeling that he was walking into a trap. There was no way Luthor would be having a demonstration this big and not have any security.

Up ahead, he did find one person in the backstage area. He was working on a computer station that was connected to what looked like the back of a giant robot without a head. Jimmy knew, that the robot was the prototype that was being demonstrated today; and a very bad feeling swept over him because of it.

Trying to keep far enough away, so not to be noticed, he pressed the record button on his digital camera. He took video footage of the back of the massive robot; he was not sure if it would prove useful or not. He was just going to record what he was now seeing, and let the professionals decide if there was something out of place.

He slowly turned the camera around, hoping to capture how empty the backstage area was. When he brought his camera around to the man standing at the computer, the man was looking directly at him. Jimmy's nerves went on the fritz. He did not know what he should do at that point. Should he introduce himself with the false identity, that he was given?

The facial expression on the man was that of panic; he was doing something that he was not supposed to be doing. Jimmy had to assume that he was sabotaging the prototype, and had to be stopped. "Hey you!"

The man made a mad dash away from him; and without thinking, Jimmy found himself chasing after him.

* * *

"We live in a time of growing chaos and violence ever since nine-eleven. Our wars have been very costly in human life. As a nation, we need more security that another nine-eleven will never happen again. We also need a way to fight our wars without jeopardizing the ones we love. Impossible, you may think, but that is not the case anymore; the A2-40 will do that and more."

With a clap of his hands the red curtain was raised. The crowd gasped at the intimidating sight of the massive robot. It was almost right out of the pages of Robocop. There was no doubt that comparisons were going to be made, to the movie, by all the reporters. It's two immense arms were two machine guns, which currently pointed downward.

"Holy crap," Turpin muttered under his breath. "I think we underestimated Luthor once again. "We're going to have to try something else."

"I'm beginning to agree with you," Sawyer replied, her eyes not moving from the prototype, up on stage.

* * *

"Oh my god, what is Luthor thinking?" Lois gasped.

"This plan of yours and Lieutenant Turpin's is not a good idea, anymore. Where is Jimmy?"

Lois had responded, but Clark had faded her voice out as he used his super hearing to pick-up on his location. When he heard the sound of someone running outside the building, he used his X-ray vision to see through the walls, and there he was. He was running as fast as he could to the back of the auditorium, probably toward Lieutenant Turpin. He could hear the boy's heart racing in his chest. Something bad was about to go down.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to go find Jimmy."

* * *

"This is the A2-40. It is a fully automated, highly intelligent, AI unit. If the size of the unit is not enough to deter any threat that comes along; it's fire power, will be. This unit is made of a unique metal only found at Lexcop. It is a blend of steel, led, and other strong metals. It's something we like to call, Metallocum. It is the strongest metal in existence. It will take quite a few powerful bombs to dent this metal.

"Don't worry; the unit is on defense mode. This means it will only attack when it is provoked. Now let me demonstrate to you, gentlemen, how intelligent the A2-40 is."

Lex turned around to face the giant robot. "Unit number zero-three-three, stand at attention."

The unit came to life and saluted with it's right arm-gun, speaking in a very deep, monotone voice. _Unit__ zero-three-three standing at attention.  
_  
"Unit zero-three-three, report the status of this facility."

_Population:__ 200  
Authorized weapons present: 15  
No immediate threat detected.  
_  
The military leaders were impressed. They all looked like children excited to get their hands on the new 'toy'. "This unit knows friends from foe, making it nearly perfect when identifying threats." Lex pointed to General Lane in the front row. "Would you mind standing to your feet for a second."

General Lane showed no hesitation as he stood to his feet. Lex commenced the demonstration. "Unit zero-three-three please identify."

_General__ Samuel Lane  
U.S. Army four-star General  
Father of two daughters: Lois and Lucy Lane  
Husband to Ella Lane  
Current years in service: 40  
Unit zero-three-three will comply with all orders given by General Samuel Lane._

All the leaders in military uniforms applauded. Lex could see it in their faces: they were already sold. "I can assure you that the offensive capability of this unit is even more impressive. I-"

The prototype began to twitch abnormally.

_Warning:__ error in the programming code.  
Warning: error in the programming code._

Lex stepped back from the podium as the prototype twitched it's way forward. "Everyone stay calm; we seem to have a small technical glitch."

The giant robot appeared to want to raise one of it's guns out towards the crowd. It was clear that it was conflicted with it's programming. The military leaders cautiously cleared out of the way, not wanting to be in the way of it's guns.

"Just great," Turpin replied, reaching for his gun.

"Lieutenant, wait!" Sawyer warned, but she was too late; Turpin had his gun in hand.

_Warning:__ threat detected. Switching to offensive mode.  
_  
An instant panic swept over everyone in the auditorium. Everyone was running for the emergency exits as the giant robot raised it's right gun-arm towards Lieutenant Turpin. "Unit zero-three-three, I order you to cease!" Lex shouted.

_Authority__ not recognized._

"Unit Zero-zero-three, this is General Samuel Lane. I order you to stand down!" He decided to try to shut it down, since it recognized his authority just moments ago.

After an intense few seconds, the prototype responded, _Command__ not accepted._

"Just great!" Turpin muttered.

The giant robot allowed for no more attempts to stop it from attacking the threat. It opened up a wave of rapid fire. Turpin's eyes were clenched, as he waited for the worst.

The worst never came; instead, he heard the sound of bullets colliding with steel, at least, that's what it sounded like. He opened his eyes to see a giant red cape flapping in front of him. In the heart of the cape was a yellow diamond with a giant emphasized 'S' in it.

Superman was using himself as a shield; and amazingly, the bullets bounced off him, as if they were nothing more than harmless BB pellets.

The prototype quickly realized that it's attack was not having any effect on the new intruder. It paused from making another move to analyze the situation.

_New__ threat detected.  
Origin: unknown.  
Defensive capabilities: armor of unknown source and origins.  
Offensive capabilities: currently unknown.  
No offensive weapons detected._

Superman took advantage of the pause, and flew like a bullet at the robot. At about the half-way point, he brought his right arm back. As he was he arrived, he threw his fist forward, delivering a powerful punch where, he assumed, it's face was. If everything had gone right, his fist would have penetrated the metal and destroyed it's neural circuits; but things did not go as planned. The unit flew back into the backstage area, but with only a small dent in the metal. "Wow, that metal is strong." Superman commented to himself.

Captain Sawyer and Lois ran to join Turpin. "You alright, Lieutenant?'

Turpin nodded, still in shock. "So that guy is super strong and bullet proof! Is he for real?"

The media went wild taking pictures of Superman hovering over the seats. The military leaders were utterly stunned by his appearance, except for General Lane. He had the look of a hungry recruiter anxious to make his monthly quota.

The prototype proved to be more versatile than it appeared. Superman expected it to be like a turtle on it's back. It was only a matter of time before it was ready to fire it's massive guns again.

He could not afford to give the unit the time to hurt the innocent. He went after it again, delivering a series of hard punches. The prototype kept it's balance through all the hits by taking occasional steps back. Finally, it had enough of the bombardment; and with speed that he did not expect, it swatted him away like a fly. Superman found himself flying backwards until he crashed into one of the cement pillars.

Dazed by the impact, he quickly collected himself and hovered upward just as the unit tried another round of gun fire. Again, the bullets bounced harmlessly off him.

Superman knew that with enough time, he could puncture through the metal, eventually. However, that could take too much time, and the odds were good for someone to get killed within that time. It was time to try something different.

Focusing his eyes on a spot on the chest plate, he fired two red, heat beams from his eyes. Both beams hit their mark, but all they were doing was singeing the outer layer of the metal. He tried putting more power behind the heat beams, but the armor was too strong too strong.  
There was one last thing he could try before taking drastic action. He shot towards the prototype like a speeding bullet and flew circles around it until he was nothing more than a red and blue blur to the naked eye. He broke from his laps and rammed into the back of the prototype's right leg, causing it to fall backwards.

Superman quickly landed by it's right gun-arm, hugged it, and wrestled with it. The giant robot fought against him, but his strength proved superior. He ripped the arm off from the body, causing sparks to fly from the ripped circuits in the arm socket.

After taking a deep breath, he blew an icy-cold blast of wind into the arm socket and unto the exposed circuits. Rapidly, the circuits inside the unit started to freeze. The outer armor started developing freeze burns which quickly turned into a thin layer of ice.

_Error: does not compute_

_Error: does not compute_

_Error: does not compu-_

The neural circuits in the unit had begun to freeze, and the prototype drifted into deactivation.

The moment that the prototype was neutralized, everyone came out of hiding. Superman floated upward to allow Lexcorp security and technicians to deal with the unit. He floated vertically over to Lieutenant Turpin and Captain Sawyer. Lois was with them as he landed in front of them like feather.

"Is everyone okay?"

"I suppose I owe you one," Turpin replied.

"It appears that no one was hurt, thanks to you," Sawyer reported. Superman looked towards Lois

"We have to stop meeting like this, Miss Lane. People may start talking," he smiled.

"Anything for a story," Lois replied, certain that she was being flirted with. If anyone else tried flirting with her, she would have punched the man's lights out. For some reason, she did not mind it this time.

With a gentle chuckle, he looked upward and took to the sky. "Wait!" General Lane ran towards them, trying to get there before he took off, but it was too late. Superman was well on his way from there. General Lane swore under his breath.

"Dad, leave him alone. If it wasn't for him, we would be in deep trouble right now."

General Lane ignored his daughter and got into Turpin's face. "You saw what he did. He has some kind of high-tech weapons that no man should have. Why didn't you take him into custody?"

"I didn't see any hard evidence of him carrying any weapons. Since when did it become a crime to be a good Samaritan?" Turpin growled. "Why must someone have to go through the government to be able to do charitable work?"

"You've mistaken me for a politician," General Lane snarled. "I have no problems with the private sector, but this man is different. He is a living, breathing weapon, and a possible threat to the security to this nation. This government has to have assurance that he will never become an enemy to this country. Do you know him well enough to assure me that he won't turn Rogue?"

No one could respond to his challenge. The General did make a good point: no one can say, for certain, what Superman's intentions were. Gut feelings were not good enough. Somehow, Lois was going to have to find a way to interview him. Seeing that she knew him better than all the other reporters who would be after the same thing, perhaps he would be drawn to her to give his first interview.

"Hey everyone, look who I found!" Clark announced, walking up to the small group with his arm on Jimmy's shoulder.

Everyone gave him the look that said that he had yet again missed all the action. "Did I miss something?"

"It's becoming a habit of yours to miss everything," Lois replied snidely.

"Lieutenant, I have something you must see. I believe the prototype was sabotaged."

"No kidding. Let me see what you got, kid."

Jimmy set the digital camera to video playback mode and showed Lieutenant Turpin what he had recorded. His hope of finally catching Luthor was pretty much dashed. Luthor would not have been so clumsy as to wait to the last minutes to sabotage the whole unit. He would have known that they were going to try to catch him in the act.

When the video showed the saboteur, Jimmy pressed the pause button. "Wait a minute, let me see that!" Lois snapped the camera away from the two men to get a better look at the man on the video. "You recognize that man?" Turpin asked.

"Yes, his name his John Corben. He used to be a reporter with me at the Daily Planet. The jerk plagiarized one of my articles. He was the only one to share my dislike for Lex Luthor."

"I know him, as well," Clark admitted.

"You're here no more than two days, and you seem to know everyone in Metropolis," Lois replied wryly.

"We went to the same schools, together. He was not a nice kid. He bullied Lex and myself in school. I hate to say it, but he is the type of person who hates everyone who is 'different'. I lost track of him after graduating, but Lois is right; I can easily see him having a grudge against Luthor. I doubt he would work with Luthor to cause this catastrophe."

"What did you expect?" General Lane said. "You all are trying to peg Lex Luthor as something he's not."

"Let's put out an APB on this John Corben. He can't have gotten too far. I want this man in custody right away."

* * *

John was surprised how fast the police had caught onto his trail. If it wasn't for Superman's intervention, he probably would not even be in this predicament. Now, he was on the run for his life. He had to get out of Metropolis as fast as he could.

He made a quick stop to his apartment. He grabbed the suitcase with the up-front money he was given. After he was safely out of Metropolis, he could demand the rest of it. He was glad that he had demanded some of his big pay-out up front. It was going to get him safely out of Metropolis.

With the suitcase in hand, he raced out of his apartment, ran down three flights of stairs, and raced to his old, run-down Ford Station Wagon. He threw his suitcase in the passenger seat and stumbled with his keys and getting into the ignition. When he twisted the key, he was thrown back as the car sped out onto the highway, on it's own. There was no time to fix the problem as an eighteen wheeler plowed into the side car at full speed.

Watching safely from a distance, Mercy Graves watched as the collision with John Corben's car resulted in a massive twelve car accident. The job was done. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Lex's office. "Tell professor Vale that the test subject is ready for his experiment."


	21. Enter Metallo

**Chapter 21: Enter Metallo**

A visit from General Lane was not unexpected, nor was the news that he was bringing to Lex. What was a surprise was his strong, encouraging support. "My superiors want to put a freeze on our business dealings until a formal investigation can be done. I have to abide by their decision, but I will make sure that the investigation is swift, so we can get back to business."

"I understand," Lex replied, clasping his hands in front of him. "It is sad that the culprit may not survive for the police to be able to question him; but none-the-less, this situation should be dealt with in a timely fashion."

General Lane never lost his composure. His standing posture was always straighter than any other normal person. Spending the number of years in the military tended to build strong personalities; he was no exception. Showing emotions was not in his personality, as well. This was the closest to showing emotion that Lex had ever seen, despite General Lane's face being like stone. "Nothing has changed, in my opinion. You have done this nation a great service with your weapons."

Lex hated to change the subject, but curiosity got the better of him. "What is your opinion of Superman?"

Just the name turned his stomach. "It is my view that he is a menace until he is registered by the government. We need to know that he has no ulterior motives."

"Sort of like giving him a vigilante registration permit."

"Something along those lines," General Lane nodded. "All men need some sort of authority to keep them in line. On whose authority does Superman do what he does?"

"Very interesting point," Lex complimented.

"Not to mention, the army could really use someone with his abilities."

That was the one thing Lex had not wanted to hear in this conversation. Now, there was no mistaking what had to be done. "I see your point," Lex lied.

"If you will pardon me, I must report to my superiors," General Lane said. He spun around and marched firmly out of Lex's office.

For some misplaced reason, he had hoped that he could have spared Clark for what he was about to unleash. If all the government was interested in was forcing Clark, or Superman, to sign some vigilantism registration act, then there would be no problem; he would have no problem pulling the right strings to get Clark out of Metropolis. Then, he would no longer be a threat to getting in the way of his more shady deals.

However, the military wanted him as a weapon, and that was something Lex could not have. If they put a leash on him, and controlled him as their weapon, then they would no longer need Lex's technology. Lexcorp would not go bankrupt, but it would be intolerably costly.

So now, he was faced with getting rid of Clark, or being the first to put a leash on him. Actually, there was a third option that Lex had decided to take: all the above.

Mercy entered the office. "We got it. Superman left some DNA on the prototype."

"Excellent! Have the sample taken to the cloning lab. One way or another, Superman is going to work for me."

Lex stood up from his chair and took a few steps to the giant window behind him. Cupping his hands behind him, he stared out onto the vast landscape of building rooftops. "The power that he had was incredible; godlike, almost. How does a man acquire such power?"

"I wonder if he is even human," Mercy said, cautiously walking up to Lex. She was ignoring all of warnings going off inside of her. Her feelings had taken control of her body. She had long desired for him to notice her. She was attracted to men with power. Him just talking about power was more than she could bear.

Lex turned to face her. "Perhaps he's not. That would explain a lot."  
Her eyes locked onto his. His voice began to waver. "If there is anyone who should have that kind of power, it's me."

Her face drew closer to his as their noses nearly touched. "Yes, you should have the power." Her head tilted as their lips met.

Her eyes fluttered shut. Their lips barely touched, or moved, for that matter, and she could have sworn that he was reciprocating. It, also, could have been her fantasizing. She slowly pulled back, and opened her eyes. Lex remained stone-faced as she pulled away. "Don't ever do that again."

"Yes, sir," Mercy replied, her face turning red with embarrassment. She turned and speedily raced out of the office, refusing to look behind.

* * *

"Okay, listen up, people," Perry shouted to all the reporters in the room. "It is pretty much a foregone conclusion that Superman is here to stay. Reports of Superman sightings are coming from all over the country, not just Metropolis anymore. He put out a warehouse fire in Texas one minute, and then he rescues a cat from a tree in New Jersey, the next. One minute he captures a wanted fugitive in Chicago; and the next, he is walking grandma across the street in Florida."

There were a few chuckles from the reporters in the room. Even Clark had to be amused by Perry's humor. He looked over at Lois who seemed to be distracted by her thoughts.

She had mentioned that it would be in Superman's best interest to do an interview. He had spent the night contemplating what she had said. Her father had said at the demonstration that people needed assurance that he would not turn into a villain. General Lane did have a good point. The people of Metropolis had no idea what was going on through his head. They had no idea that his intentions was and always will be good.

A newspaper article was not going to ease tensions over night, but it would be a step in the right direction. With that in mind, he made the final decision to do an interview. There was only one person he trusted enough to allow to interview him, but she had yet to find the note that he had snuck into her desk.

As Perry continued his speech, Clark side stepped towards Lois, who was standing in front of her desk. "You look distracted."

"I have a lot on my mind," Lois replied.

"I just thought you would like to know; I saw Alfonso deliver a note for you. It might be in one of your drawers," Clark whispered.

Alfonso was the Daily Planet's mail room clerk. Coming all the way from Angola Africa, he has only been in the states for a few years. He was still in the process of learning English, and spoke mostly in Portuguese. Lucky for Clark, one of his abilities was to understand and speak in any foreign language. Alfonso had nothing to do with the note, but saying that he delivered the note would prevent Lois from tracing it back to him.

She quietly opened her top draw and saw a hand written note written on a yellow, notebook paper and folded in half. She took the note, opened it up, and read the note to herself.

_I__ think it is time Metropolis knew a little more about me. _

_Meet me on the rooftop of the Daily Planet _

_tonight at 9 PM for an exclusive interview. - S _

She lit up with anticipation. She looked like a school-girl who just got a note from a boy she had a crush on. She suddenly became aware of her looks, and started making sure her hair was straight, and not frizzy.

"Something good, I assume," Clark whispered.

Lois was back to her normal, confident self. "I am about to earn my second Pulitzer. I have an interview with Superman."

"How did you land that?"

Lois patted him on the shoulder. "When you are as good as I am, you can make anything happen."

* * *

Random Memories flashed across his eyes in the form of screen shots of a television. Echoes of past voices blended together to make a loud, chaotic noise. It almost felt like be rebooted; very much like a computer. John Corben could not focus in onto anything the 'booting process' was complete.

It was a very strange sensation. There was no feeling to be had. He could not feel any form of pain, hunger, thirst, or anything that were signs that he was alive. He could not even feel the beating of his own heart.

After all the static had disappeared, and the last of his memories had been played; he could only see a bright light shining into his eyes. Despite the brightness of the light, he felt no need to shield his eyes. This was more disturbing than anything else. He could just stay where he was, staring at this bright light, not have to blink. It did not even affect his vision at all.

The voices drowned down until all he could hear were three, maybe four, individual voices. What they were saying started out sounding like nothing more than gibberish; but like a computer having a new language programmed into it, he quickly assimilated the language. They were speaking English. John then had to ask himself: why did he have to re-assimilate the English language?

"Professor, he's online!" a female voice announced. It took Corben a few seconds to identify the mood behind that comment. The female was expressing distress. Was she talking about him? Why would she be saying, that he was online, as if he was nothing more than an electronic device?

"It's too early!" a male's voice shared the same distress. Based on the tone of the voice, this male was an older male; probably, over fifty years of age.

"What's going on? Where am I?" John asked. Talking was an unusual experience right then. Normally, one could feel the vibration, caused by the voice, to tickle the throat. Usually, you could also hear your voice in your 'inner ear'. Corben was currently experiencing neither of these. It was almost as if the voice had come from someone else. He hardly recognized his own voice. It had a tint of a mechanical echo in the background.

"Stay calm, Mr. Corben. You were in critical accident," the male voice, which he determined to be the alpha of the group, urged.

"An accident?" The memories of the accident replayed in his mind, as if he was watching a video playback. How crisp the memory was very startling and unnerving. It was as if his mind had become a DVD player; where with just a simple thought, he could play, pause, fast forward, and rewind any memories he chose. He remembered exactly what had happened up to the very second the eighteen wheeler plowed into the side of his car.

The bright light dimmed as it appeared that it was being moved from his sight. He then realized, that it was not the light that was being moved; it was his line of sight. Without the sense of feeling, he could not tell what position he was in. With the light moving from his sight, he realized that he had been laying flat on his back and was now being sat up at an angle, just like a patient in a hospital bed.

He could see a mostly bald man with a neatly-kept, white beard and mustache. He wore a very small pair of round, wire-framed glasses which made him look like your typical television stereotype of a scientist. He was dressed in a white scientist robe which further added to the stereotype. He could see three others surrounding him: two men and a woman. They were dressed more like doctors and nurses.

He found himself in a white, tiled room which looked like a European hospital room. This was no normal hospital. "Where am I?"

"You are in my laboratory. I am afraid modern medicine was not going to be enough to save you. I am professor Vale."

Corben could not care less about who any of these people were. Something strange was going on with him. Corben looked down to inspect himself and was shocked by what he found. His entire right arm and chest were metal. "What have you done to me!"

"Your body was too damaged to repair," Professor Vale replied with a hint of nervousness in his voice. "We had no choice in the matter but to…to remove your brain and place it into the body of an android."

There were no words for what Corben was feeling. How does anyone act when they are told that they had been made into an android? "Give me a mirror."

"We are in the process of synthesizing more skin for your metal shell."

"Give me a damn mirror!" Corben screamed.

The way he moved to get the mirror suggested hesitancy. Corben surmised that he was not going to like what he saw. Professor Vale continued to defend his actions as he handed him a mirror. "Now don't look at all the negatives; there are some positives as well. The metal, that your body is made of, is the strongest metal out there. It is a special metal we like to call metallocium. The metal is virtually impenetrable."

"Metallo-" Corben stared at his reflection. There was a layer of skin starting from the center of his forehead and went down to the bridge of his nose. From the bridge of his nose, the skin took a drastic turn to the left so that his entire mouth and jaw were robotic. He looked like something out of the movie: Terminator. His left eye was human, but his right was nothing more than a red light. His metal mouth and jaw looked like they came from a metal skull. Half of his scalp had skin and hair, just like he used to. There was no doubt; the human parts of him did have an uncanny resemblance to his original appearance.

Professor Vale continued his blabbering. "You never have to worry about hunger, thirst, or pain. For all purpose, you can pretty much live forever."

"Live forever?" Corben repeated, still not fully focusing on what was being said to him. He slammed the mirror down and swung his legs over the edge of the metal bed that he was on. Everyone radiated uneasiness as Corben slid off the bed and walked closer to a full size mirror in the room.

"Yes, all of this is possible by your power source," Professor Vale said as he tapped on his chest. Corben's chest plate slowly swung open to reveal a green glowing rock where his heart would be. "It's a meteorite unlike anything this world has ever seen. There is still no name for it. All we do now is that we are capable of harnessing the radiation, it produces, for power. Combined with this mechanical body, you, virtually, have untold superhuman strength."

"Do I now?" Corben had broken out of his state of shock. Professor Vale now had his undivided attention. With a single thought, he was able to shut his chest plate.

"If you will lie back down, Mr. Corben, I will continue synthesizing more skin so you can look normal, and no one will know of your secret."

Corben turned around and gazed at the professor with a frightening gaze. "John Corben is dead." His human looking arm shot up and grabbed the professor by the throat. He gurgled and gasped as Corben lifted him off his feet by his throat. "You may now call me…Metallo."

With a twist of his wrist, he snapped the professor's head, leaving a horrified look chiseled onto his lifeless face. The nurse screamed, horrified by what she had just witnessed. Metallo threw the lifeless body across the room as if it was nothing more than a rag doll. His focus then turned on the doctors and the nurse.

Metallo stood between them and the exit; there was no escaping for the three of them, and everyone in the room knew it. He slowly made his way towards them. "Pl-pl-please, I have a wife and children!" The closest doctor pleaded, his knees buckling underneath him.

"I'm sorry," Metallo replied, tilting the human side of his head downward and pointing his robotic one towards him. "I seem to be missing a human heart."

The doctor's instincts kicked in, and he turned to run away, but he felt an icy-cold metal hand grab him by the nap of his neck. The android swung him, violently, face-first into the tiled wall. The impact was so violent, that his face broke through the tile hit the steel. The doctor was dead on impact, as the bridge of his nose was rammed into his brain.

* * *

Mercy had to look away. The scene was too gruesome to watch any longer. She fought the urge to vomit, and prayed the Lex would shut down the camera feed. Her prayer went unanswered; Lex was too fixated with what he was seeing. He watched the man, who used to be John Corben, slaughter everyone in the room. There was no sign of remorse or regret. He had become a stone cold killer; and with his strength, he should be able to handle Clark and all of his abilities. "I think he will do quite nicely."


	22. Love Takes Flight

**Chapter 22: Love Takes Flight**

Lois began to regret her choice of clothing for the interview. She was dressed as if she was going on a hot date. There was no use trying to fool herself that she did not have a crush on him; she did, but that did not mean that he had to feel the same way about her. She wondered if she really was as vain as her younger sister made her out to be.

She was on the rooftop of the Daily Planet. She had kept this interview secret from Perry White and Jimmy Olson. She wanted to surprise her boss tomorrow with this article, not to mention that she wanted this alone time with him. Clark was the only one she told, and she could not figure out why. She end up stressing to him, though, that this article was hers and hers alone. Perhaps she was a little rough on him, but what was done was done.

She had taken the liberty to set up a card table and two wooden folding chairs. On the table were two wine glasses and a bottle of red wine. She went to the table and straightened every detail of the tabletop for the third time. "God, I am vain," she mumbled under her breath.

A gentle breeze whooshed by her, and there he was, standing on the rooftop with her. Looking down at her watch, she saw that it was nine o'clock sharp. "Wow, you're the definition of punctual," Lois commented.

Superman grinned. He looked past her to see the table set up and a bottle of wine. "You seemed to have gone out of the way just for an interview."

Lois shrugged. "I just wanted to make things comfortable for us. It's not every day someone gets to interview a real life superhero."

He walked with her to the table. Even though this was his interview, he went out of his way to be a perfect gentleman. He pulled back the chair to allow her to sit down. "Thank you. Here I thought chivalry was dead."

Supermen pushed her up to the table before taking his seat. Lois held up the bottle of wine. "Wine?"

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but I do not drink."

"At all?"

Superman beamed at her response. "Just alcohol. I eat and drink just like everyone else."

"So you are human?" Lois pulled out her pad of paper and a pen from her purse. After getting what she needed, she put her purse back under the table.

"I am humanoid, just like everyone else on this planet, but I am not from Earth."

Lois could not help notice the ease in how he answered her questions. He was calm, collected, and confident. "So you're an alien? What planet are you from?"

"I come from a planet called Krypton."

"Never heard of such of planet. Is it spelled with a C-R-I?" Lois asked, cursing her poor spelling ability.

"It's Krypton with a K-R-Y," Superman corrected, watching her struggle to write down the name of his home world. He could not help but be amused by her mental dilemma. "My real name is Kal-El."

Her right eyebrow rose. She had no idea how to, even, begin to spell that. "That's your real name? I figured it was something that started with an 'S'. That's why we have given you the name 'Superman'."

"This," he tapped the 'S' on his chest. "This is the symbol of the –El family. It's kind of like how your businesses have their personal logos. On Krypton, every family has a symbol that we display for honor."

"Interesting. Are you offended when we call you Superman? Most of the world believes that what the 'S' stands for, and it's a lot easier to remember."

His laugh was gentle and heartfelt; which meant that he had a sense of humor. "I have no problem with that; I kind of like it."

"Well, that's good," Lois replied. She fought the urge to look directly into his eyes. The man was so handsome, up-close, that she did not trust herself not to get distracted. "How long have you been here on Earth?"

"Krypton exploded when I was a baby. My parents sent me here to save me from the destruction. I have been here ever since. I rather not go into much more details than that to protect the ones I care about."

"I can understand that. I will not put that in my article." She could not explain why she said that. She never promised anyone to hold back information from an article, especially one that could earn her a Pulitzer. "Did you know that the government is interested in getting you into their military?"

"I have heard that there was an interest in recruiting me; but, even if I wanted to, I am forbidden to do so. I can be of greater help to the people of the world if I remain neutral. I am merely here to be Earth's guardian. Believe me, when I say, that there are other life forms out there, and some of them are not as friendly as I am. I am here to protect Earth from those threats. When things are quiet, however, I am glad to help out the local law enforcement and fire fighters."

"Interesting," Lois replied, as she took notes of his answer. She could only imagine how her father would respond. It was probably a good idea to leave out the bit about possible hostile aliens out there. Her father could distort that to his advantage.

Superman could see it in her eyes. He was sharing more than he should with her. The few days he had been with her, he knew she would know what to report and what not to report. Despite her aggressive personality, there was a warm, caring person.

"So you can fly, shoot lasers from your eyes, deflect bullets, and you have lungs of iron. Can you tell me something? Is it the suit that allows you to do all of these amazing things?"

Superman laughed. "No, it's not the suit. The suit is nothing more than Kryptonian fabric which is sturdier than any fabric found on this planet. There is no magic in the suit," He answered.

"Okay, that might disappoint the military leaders," Lois laughed.

"My abilities come from the radiation of the yellow sun. You see, Krypton had a red sun, which is an entirely different type of radiation. Being exposed to this different type of radiation has produced these effects over a period of time, in my life. That is also why fragments of my home world can be so harmful to me."

Lois was at a loss for words. She had not expected him to reveal his Achilles' heel. There was no way she was going to reveal that to the world, but she was astonished that he would reveal his weakness to anyone. "I don't think that's something I should mention in the article. If I could be so bold, why would you mention that bit information?"

"Because I trust you," Superman replied with an affectionate smile on his face. There was more to it than that, but he knew she would understand it down the road, a bit. She would learn by revealing that to her, he was proving to her his commitment to the people of Metropolis and to her. She would be the only one who knew how to take him down if he was compromised in any way. She was the only one he could trust with that information. Earning her trust was a very big deal for him, despite it being a strictly personal move.

"Thank you," Lois replied, unaware that she was blushing. She had tried her best not to get distracted, but she was failing miserably. She had become so flummoxed, that she had no idea where her next question came from. "So what is it like to fly?"

"It's quite spectacular, actually," He answered. "Care to find out for yourself?"

"Me?" It dawned on her that she had asked him that question because she was looking for an excuse just to touch him; to make sure he was real, and not a ghost or an illusion. "I don't know…is it safe for me?"

Superman stood up from his chair and offered down his hand. "With me, you are perfectly safe."

There was no reluctance as she took his hand and stood from her chair. In hindsight, she probably should not have looked so eager when taking his hand. However, his massive hands were surprisingly warm and inviting. Her whole hand could almost fist in the palm of his. His hand looked like it could crush bricks with ease, yet it was as smooth as silk.

He led her to the ledge of the building, and her senses had finally realized what she was about to do and began protesting. "I don't know about this."

"You can trust me; I will not let anything happen to you."

His voice was almost hypnotic. She found herself not able to resist it. Her soul trusted him, explicitly; but her mind wanted to take over. Most of the time, her mind would win over her soul, but this was the first time her soul was pushing so hard, that her mind could not hold back the tidal wave.

She joined him on the ledge, and looked down the side the building. The cars' headlights looked like white fireflies flying between the buildings. "So how does this work? Do we jump-up and fly or do we jump off and then fly?"

"Just follow my lead."

He gently floated upward instead of jumping off the ledge, pulling her with him. She did not know how he was doing it, but he had her flying by her side, as he held her by the hand. At first, she was terrified, and she found herself hugging his muscular bicep. Slowly, her terror subsided, and she loosened her grip on his arm. For someone so strong and steel-like, his arm was just as soft as any other male's arm. That only confirmed to her, that he was not a robot.

As her fright level decreased, she became more aware of the beauty all around her. She had become completely relaxed by the time they were out of Metropolis and flying over the water. The view was magnificent. The full moon reflected off the small ripples of water. They were flying low enough that they could also see their reflection, as well.

After enjoying the view, they lifted back up towards the cloud. Now totally at ease, he held her only by her hand as she spread her arms out like a bird. She fought the urge to raise her hand up and touch the billowy cloud.

There were no words to describe what she was feeling. She had never been this excited since being a little girl on Christmas morning. As she looked towards him, he could see the enthusiasm in her face and smiled in return.

She knew that she was falling for him. She had never met a man who made her feel the way she did. She was the daughter of a military man. Her father raised her as if she was a boy, so she had pretty much grown up as a tomboy. She had a very strong and independent personality who intimidated most men. Yes, there were many cute men out there, but she did not want to be the one wearing the pants in the family, like most people assumed.

However, this man was different; he was soft spoken, but very strong. He was the first man she had encountered, that made her feel like a real woman. He was the first man who would be able to protect her, and not vice versa.

They were now flying over a small, wooded mountain range. The moon light provided enough light to allow her to see through the trees, and glimpsed a few deer leaping through the forest.

Superman hovered higher above the ground before coming to a complete stop. Before she knew it, she found herself standing on his toes, with his arms wrapped tightly around her waist. Her arms were around his, and she found herself gazing into his eyes. Pressed up against his body, she found herself memorized by his gaze. Their faces were inches apart; and their lips, even closer. Never had she desired for someone to kiss her as she did at that very moment. The moon's light across his face only enhances his stunningly handsome, dark-blue eyes.

She wished this moment would last forever. This was better than anything she could have dreamed about. If only he could bring his head down a few more inches, then their lips would finally connect. "It's getting late. I better get you back."

She wanted to plead with him for kiss before leaving, but thought better of it. To say that she was disappointed would be a gross understatement. She had been convinced that he felt the same way about her, but perhaps she had misread him. She tried to hide her disappointment as they set pace back towards Metropolis.

Superman remained quiet as he led the way back to Metropolis. He could feel the disappointment by the beating of her heart. He had not intended to hurt her like this. His intention was just to show her the world the way he saw it. With the amount of time, he had spent with her as Clark Kent, he had grown quite fond of her. She had no idea how badly he had wanted to kiss her just moments ago. He was not entirely sure why he abstained.

They reached Metropolis quicker than it took them to reach the mountains. Flying towards the heart of Metropolis, they fly over a train traveling on the skytrack. The skytrack was created by Lexcorp ten years ago. It was like a normal subway system, except it was about fifteen stories above ground. It was designed to travel from one side of Metropolis to the other, faster than a typical subway system. That was an unproven statement, in Lois' opinion. It only really served to make Metropolis appear to be a futuristic looking mega city.

As they reached the Daily planet, they flew up the side of the building. She wrapped her arms around him, holding on to him tightly as they slowly flew up the building. After landing onto the rooftop, Lois stepped away. "Thank you. That was unbelievable," she said solemnly. "I promise to be careful with what I put into the article."

"I know," he replied with a smile. "I'll see you around, Lois."

As Superman flew off, she picked up on his using her first name. When they first met, he had called her Miss Lane; now, it was Lois. Perhaps he did feel something towards her, and that brought a smile to her face.


	23. First Confrontation

**Chapter 23: First Confrontation**

The morning started like your typical workday in Metropolis. The streets were overflowing with traffic, and the sidewalks were bustling with people. Metallo tried to hide his appearance using the hood from his hooded jacket, but it could only do so much. He could still feel the eyes being drawn to him like a magnet. He could feel his ire rising with each pair of eyes that looked towards him.

He murmured under his breath as he pushed his way through the crowd. It was beginning to feel like everyone was congregating around him, and it was making him claustrophobic. He walked past a twelve year old boy walking with his mother. The kid pointed at him, but his mother pulled him closer to herself, terrified by his appearance. A young hoodlum clipped his shoulder as he walked by. He could hear the young man cry, "Ouch!" underneath his breath.

"Get away from me," Metallo uttered under his breath.

He could overhear the whispers of everyone around him. He could hear them drown out his very own thoughts. Every single person there was dismayed by his appearance. He spun around to see his feelings were correct; people were cautiously crowding around him. They all had shocked looks on their faces, and that was when he realized that his hood had fallen off.

"I said, get away from me!" He roared, scaring everyone surrounding him.

"Back away, people!" Two voice from among the crowd ordered.

Metallo spun back around and saw the crowd begin to disperse to reveal two police officers. "What the hell is that thing?" One of the officers whispered to his partner.

"Thing?" Metallo snapped violently. "Do I look like a thing to you? To All of You?"

The two offices whipped out their guns. When they did, the crowd dispersed ever faster and ran for cover. Metallo had no lips; but if he did, he would have grinned. "You really should not have done that."

Metallo stormed towards the two officers, who unleashed everything their hand guns had. The bullets bounced off him harmlessly. With his left hand, he pushed the officer on the left backwards. He used the back of his other arm to swat the other officer out into the incoming traffic. An approaching car could not stop fast enough, and he rammed into the officer, in mid-air, with his windshield.

* * *

"How, in the name of Samuel Adams, did you get an interview with the big man?" Perry White asked after he finished reading the poorly spelled rough draft.

"He came to me for the interview," Lois replied, with a satisfactory grin on her face.

"You're going to be famous!" Jimmy cheered with excitement.

"Thanks, Clark, for allowing me to do this. I promise I will not leave you out on a scoop anymore."

"I understand why it was important for you," Clark replied. "You don't have to treat me like a child; I'm not a kid."

Perry was not so willing to let this go as Clark was. "You better not leave your partner out again; this thing is so riddled with spelling errors, that's it's embarrassing. I like the title, though: _'My Night with Superman'_. This is really interesting stuff. I want a final draft by the end of the day. This will be tomorrows front page story. We will recycle one of Jimmy's Superman photos to go with it."

"Alright!" Jimmy cheered.

"Hey, take a look at the breaking news!" Another reporter stuck his head into Perry's office.

Looking out the door, they could see everyone gathered around every LCD flat screen TV's at various locations in the building. Everyone in Perry's office filed on out and over to the closest television.

Displayed on the screen was half-man/half-robot creature terrorizing Metropolis. The damage in his wake was devastating. Whatever that thing was, he had some super strength to be able to cause that much damage. Clark watched as it flipped a police car into the middle of traffic heading in the opposite direction, causing a major multi-car accident.

"I think I know where that is. Do you have your camera, Jimmy?"

"Sure do," Jimmy replied, showing off his camera.

"Clark, are you-" Lois to her other side to see that Clark was nowhere to be seen.

* * *

Turpin was first on the scene. He was directing his officers from the MSCU to where they could best be useful. He had no idea what they were facing, only that the police were being overwhelmed by this threat.

Chaos was overwhelming the streets of Metropolis. It had the same eerie feeling of a terrorist attack; however, this was no car bomb that they were dealing with. If the reports were true, they were up against something far more dangerous.

Turpin looked down at his watch. He could not recall when the last time Captain Maggie Sawyer was late arriving at a crime scene. This was not like her. "Where, the hell, are you, Mags?"

* * *

Captain Sawyer kicked her car door open. She had no idea what had just happened. All the cars, in front of her, began to pile up, and she could not avoid it. She rear-ended the car, in front of her, at about twenty miles an hour. The cars, behind her, ended up rear-ending her, and that is what caused the gash on her forehead.

When she stood up, she nearly collapsed. She was pretty sure that she had a concussion, but she could not afford to allow that to deter her from her job. Something unusual caused this accident, and she had to figure out what.

With her gun in hand, she climbed over wrecked car after wrecked car, towards where all the panic was streaming from. A police car came popping off the ground like popcorn, and it was heading straight for her. "Crap!" Standing in between two cars in two different lanes, her only option was to duck lower than the rooftops of the cars. She went all the way down just in case the rooftops did not hold, and prayed that car did not find an angle to crush her with.

The police car landed on it's rooftop on top of the rooftops of the two cars she was between. Shattered glass rained down on her back, as the police car bounced and rolled past her and into the next lane over. Her sore body slowed her ability of getting back onto her feet. Her body was in shock from the accident. While she was confident nothing was broken, it would be several days for the soreness to dissipate.

Getting ready to fight through the pain to climb over a wrecked Taxi cab, she saw what looked like a cyborg looking straight at her. He looked like something right out of a science fiction movie. Her professional training kicked in as she pointed her gun at it. There was no doubt that it was the cause of this pile up. "Don't make a move!" She had no idea if it could understand her or how intelligent it was.

It did not speak, but it gave her a malevolent look. All it took was one step in her direction, and she unloaded her gun on it. The bullets bounced off him, and only served to agitate it more. "Crap, again!."

Metallo leaped at her like a rabid wolf leaping at it's pray. He was in mid-leap over the yellow cab when a fist landed across his face with such impact it caused him to fly backwards and crash through the glass window of a department store.

Sawyer looked up to see Superman standing on the hood of the yellow cab. He turned around and looked down at her. "Are you alright, Captain?"

"I've seen better days," She admitted, amazed by his knack of swooping in just in the nick of time.

"I will handle this; you are in need of medical attention."

"Thank you, Superman," Sawyer replied. She looked behind him and saw Metallo getting ready to attack. "Look out!"

He turned around just as he came flying into his gut. Sawyer ducked to avoid being taken out by the two of them. Superman landed in the empty street with Metallo on top of him. They were now in the opposite direction lane, but the pile up just down several yards away cleared this part of the street.

"Let's see what happens when an unmovable object encounters an unstoppable force," Metallo said as he delivered a rapid series of punches across his face.

As Metallo went to punch him with his right fist, Superman caught it in the palm of his right hand. The cyborg's strength had taken him by surprised, but the surprise had now worn off. Superman used his left hand to slap him in his left ear, causing Metallo to roll off him.

Both were up on their feet quickly. Superman made the next move, delivering a punch across Metallo's face. He was stunned to see that the cyborg did not even come close to losing it's balance. In retaliation, the cyborg kicked him in the gut with such force, he found himself flying backwards a few yards to slam into the building behind him.

Metallo stepped towards him, planning on another attack, but he beat him to the punch. Superman used the wall to push himself forward as he stretched out his right arm and clotheslined the cyborg onto his back. Superman did not let up the attack seeing that the street was deserted. Any second, people were going to see them go at it, and that was going to draw a crowd. If he could end this threat before that happened, innocent lives would be saved.

He grabbed Metallo by the ankle and swung him around two full circle before releasing him and launching him into a street light. He crashed into the pole with his back, which caused the metal pole to snap and come crashing onto the street.

Curious pedestrians had finally begun to take notice of them and began to, cautiously, come in for a closer look. Superman was relieved to see that one of them was Lieutenant Dan Turpin and a few of his MCSU officers in heavy riot armor. He knew Turpin would keep the people away from the danger zone.

Superman focused again on Metallo only to find him already up on his feet, swinging the giant light post like a baseball bat. He had no time to react. He was sent cruising, like a baseball, over the heads of Turpin. He eventually found himself coming down on the hood of a wrecked car, which collapsed underneath his weight.

"Holy crap!" Turpin exclaimed. He had never seen anything manhandle Superman like this before. "Move…move…move!" He shouted to the people and his officers, knowing full well that the cyborg was going to plow through them just to get to Superman.

Turpin's assumption proved to be correct; Metallo made a beeline straight for Superman. Superman had just pulled himself off the hood of the car to have Metallo's metal fist pounded into his gut.

His body, as a reflex, bent over forward, as he fought to recapture his breath. Metallo did not give him that time; he grabbed him by the nap of the neck, spun him around and rammed his head through the door of another wrecked taxi cab, right beneath the window.

Metallo was determined not to give the superhero any more free shots. He was going to be as brutal on him as possible without any remorse or mercy. With his hand still on his neck he pulled his head out of the metal of the door. Before he had the chance to do his next attack, Superman twisted his neck to look up at Metallo's face and fired his red heat beams from his eyes into his face.

"Ahh!" Metallo growled as he covered his face. There was no physical damage done, but the bright red light of the beams temporarily blinded him. Taking the advantage of the opportunity, Superman delivered several precisely placed punches, including one from the right side, one from the left, and an uppercut. He put more strength in the next punch as he brought his fist back and hit him in the chest.

He had hoped to penetrate through the metal, but it was surprisingly strong just like the Luthor's military prototype at the demonstration. Instead, the impact threw Metallo back a yard a two, his feet dragging in the cement, pulling chunks of it up with him.

Whoever, or whatever, this cyborg was, he was even stronger than what Superman had expected. How could something like this come from this planet? There was something more about him, or it, than meets the eye. Inhaling deeply, until his lungs were as full of air as they could hold, he released all the cold air onto his enemy.

Metallo almost immediately began to freeze. The frigid wind was like a pointed, miniature blizzard coming at him, and he had no chance of escaping it's grasp. It was only a matter of minutes before he was completely encased in a chunk of ice.

Superman ceased his icy blow and breathed a sigh of relief. The immediate threat was over, but now he had to decide what to do with the cyborg. There was a chance that it was still functioning inside that hunk of ice. Thawing it out here and dealing with it was not an option.

People began to crown around, thinking that the threat was over, but everyone was proven wrong. The ice shattered into tiny pellets as Metallo commenced his attack with a lunge towards him. "I'm going to tear you to shreds!"

Lois and Jimmy had finally found where the commotion was taking place. Through the crowd, they could see Superman fighting with Metallo in a vicious brawl that could make even the hardest of hearts squeamish. "Wow, whatever that thing is, he's really dishing it out on Sups."

Lois did not reply. She was focusing on the half-man/half-robot that was fighting with him. Something was awfully familiar with the human half. It was as if the face was a blast from her past, but with only half of a human face, it was very difficult for her to put a finger on it.

As Metallo delivered some powerful punches, Superman began to wonder if this 'cyborg' was, actually, a sentient being. Could it actually be acting on conscience instead of a program? Was there, really, something human about his adversary?

Whether it was sentient or not, he had to be taken out, and his metal body proved to be extremely hard for him to damage. He had to take this fight somewhere less crowded. There were too many people gathering around, now. First, though, he had to deliver a hard enough blow to adequately disorient him, so he could take him to another location.

He interrupted Metallo's rhythm of punches and wrapped his arms around his waist. He shot up into the air until he reached about twenty stories from the ground. With a strong spin, he threw him back down to the earth towards an empty street.

Metallo fell like a speeding bullet onto the asphalt, and hit like a small bomb sending out a miniature shockwave upon impact. When the dust settled, he was laying in the middle of a giant crater, but still completely functional. Superman was going to have to do more to disorient him.

It was time to bring the fight down a level. Using his X-ray vision, he could see the underground tunnels of Metropolis' old subway system, which was now abandoned. His right fist leading the way, he flew down as fast as he possibly could, at the crater. With this speed, all anyone would see was a red and blue blur. He hit his target dead on, and the impact caused both of them to break through the ground and into the abandoned subway tunnel.

As a deafening silence pursued the impact, onlookers cautiously surrounded the hole in the ground. Turpin made sure he was one of those who were right at the hole. "Holy Toledo! They went down to the old subway tunnel!"

"You see anything?" Lois asked as she shoved a few kids out of her way so she and Jimmy could join Turpin at the hole.

"Not a blasted thing! I have never seen a fight like this before in my life. They were delivering blows that should have killed each other three times over!"

The silence was broken as the ground beneath them began to tremble. What sounded like miniature explosions could be heard beneath their feet. After a minute of these 'explosions', Superman came shooting out of the hole backwards. He shattered through the second floor window of the closest skyscraper, and then through the roof.

Lois let out a gasp; this was too much to take in. Just last night, she was having the time of her life with him, and now she was watching him fight for his life against some half-human robot. Who could be responsible for letting out this monstrosity on Metropolis?

"If this doesn't end soon, I'm calling General Lane," Turpin announced. He had to think about the safety of this city. If Superman could not stop this menace, then the military would have to take a crack at it. There was no way in hell, he was going to put any of his men in the path of that monster.

Superman was quick in flying out of the skyscraper the way he came in, and back into the hole. Everyone waited for more trembling, but it never happened. Instead, Superman hovered up out of the ground head first. The people made room for him to land. His suit was dirty and his red cape was slightly torn. There were a few small scratches on his face, but no trace of blood anywhere. When his feet touched the ground he looked towards Lois and Turpin, shaking his head. "I'm afraid our mystery menace has flown the coup. I looked around, but he is long gone. He has managed somehow to hide himself from me, and that is not an easy task to do."

"Well, at least it's over for now," Turpin replied. "Any ideas on who or what he was?"

"I have no clue," he admitted. "I do suspect, however, that he was more than just a robot. The way he acted suggested that he had a conscious of sorts."

"So Pinocchio got his wish and became a real boy," Lois replied, still not able to shake the image of his human face out of her mind. She knew that she knew him.

"That appears to be the case," Superman replied. "I will keep an eye out if he ever decides to show his face again."

"By any chance, have you seen Captain Sawyer?" Turpin asked. "She has not been answering any of my hails."

"Yes, she was caught in one of the pile ups. I suggested to her to get some medical attention. She was pretty banged up from her accident. If she took my suggestion, she should be heading towards the hospital."

"That's a relief," Turpin replied, glad to hear that she was alright.

"Do not worry, Lieutenant. We will catch this guy."

Turpin nodded, but deep down, he had a feeling that it was not going to be as easy as that.


	24. Investigation

**Chapter 24: Investigation**

Maggie was a great officer of the law, but a terrible patient. When the doctors told her that they wanted to keep her overnight for observation, she put up a fight. It took a lot of effort, on Toby Rain's part, to get her to agree to stay the night. A serious concussion had the potential to put someone in a coma while they were sleeping. The doctors only wanted to make sure that would not happen with her.

Things were just getting settled down, thanks to Toby, who sat beside her bed. Maggie was a strong-willed woman, but Toby had a knack for getting her to see reason. She was a pretty strong woman, in her own right. She was a reporter for the tabloid paper, the Daily Star. Working for a tabloid, a reporter had to be strong to be taken seriously. Sixty percent of people tend to think tabloid papers were nothing more than fiction articles. With that high of a percentage against her occupation, the only way to get respect was to demand it.

That was why the two of them seem to hit it off so well; they had a lot of common. At the same time, though, it also resulted in a lot of conflicts between the two of them. Somehow, they had managed to make it work this long.

"There you are, Mags. Lying down on the job, I see," Dan Turpin entered the hospital room with a warm smile.

Maggie was glad to see him, but she was the type of person who never smiled. Toby was the only one who had ever had the honor of seeing a smile on her face. "Some days you're the windshield, and some days you're the bug. I take it Superman wiped the city with our ugly little friend?"

"Not precisely," Turpin replied with a shrug. "Actually, he got away."

"Got away? Superman just let him walk away like nothing happened?"

"Hey, take it easy on the big guy," Turpin retaliated. "That thing proved to be a challenge even for the big man. That thing was nearly wiping the city with him."

"So what's next?"

"You are going to relax for awhile. Lois Lane and I have a hunch and we want to follow that lead."

"Dan, it's not a good idea to bring a civilian into an investigation. I thought we learned that lesson already."

"You know her," Turpin frowned. "She's the one that brought up the theory. Trying to stop her from investigating it now, would be like trying to stop a train at full throttle."

"What's the theory?" she asked.

"I think there is a possible link between that half-human thing, John Corben, and Lex Luthor."

"It would be great if it all tied together, but I don't see how."

"You don't worry about that," Turpin replied. "You get some rest. If she gives you a hard time, Miss Rains, you have my permission to tie her to her bed."

"You have my word," Toby smiled.

"I'm serious, captain; I don't want to see you for a couple of days. I can handle the streets of Metropolis until then." Turpin turned around and exited out of the room.

Maggie looked at Toby, beside her. "He's going to get himself killed."

* * *

Metallo escaped from Superman purely by luck. He did not retreat because he was losing, but because he saw no way of winning. They were so evenly matched; the fight could go on forever. He needed time to understand his opponent, and discover any weaknesses he may have.

Having fallen into the abandoned subway tunnel underneath Metropolis, it would have been hard to escape, but luck had favored him. After throwing the hero out of the hole, he discovered a hidden steal door. He pried the rusted door open to discover this amazing underground lair. This lair was furnished as if it was owned by a millionaire.

There was a very strong cathedral-like quality to the construction of the lair. To the right, there was a single step down into a giant personal library. It looked like every book imaginable was in this library. The library was so massive; there was a ladder on wheels, which allowed someone to reach all the way to the top shelf. In the middle of the library was a black, full-sized, grand piano.

Both rooms were decorated, heavily, with official replicas of the world's greatest art. The collection, itself, had to value in the millions. There was, even, a half-sized replica of the Statue of David in the very heart of the main room. Furthermore, in the main room, there was a mahogany desk which looked exactly like the executive desk used by the President of the United States. On the carpet, he then noticed the large presidential symbol. Somehow, Metallo doubted this hideout belonged to the President. There was only one man it could belong to, Lex Luthor; and it appeared that he had a desire to run for President.

Straight ahead, there was another section to the lair. He walked towards it, and walked down the two steps onto the tiled floor. There was a gigantic, Olympic-sized, swimming pool. The back half of the pool was overshadowed by a balcony. On the balcony, he could see a giant vault, which peaked Metallo's interest.

He found the set of stairs to the right of the pool, and he used them to reach the second level. He walked to the vault and grabbed the handle with both hands. He used all of his strength the pull on the door and there was a violent snap from the breaking of the locking mechanism. He pulled the door open to see a wide variety of different color, glowing, meteor rocks.

It appeared Luthor was collecting these strange meteorites for something. They were remarkably similar to the one he had in Metallo's chest. Perhaps the doctor who did this to him got a donation from Luthor. If that was true, he was glad that he rid the world of that slime.

There was a sheet of paper in the vault. Curious about it, he took the sheet of paper and read it. It was too complicated for him to fully comprehend. All the science talk made it unreadable to him, but he did get the drift of it by the doodle on top of the page. It had Superman's symbol crossed off, followed by an equal sign, and then quick sketch of one of these meteorites.

"That's his weakness!" Metallo said out loud before letting out an uncontrollable laugh. All this time and he had Superman's one weakness in his chest. The one thing that could kill Metropolis' hero was Metallo's power source. "I think I am now ready to finish what I've started."

His attention was pulled away by voices off, in the distance. There were people walking through the subway tunnel. They had to be the police, searching for him, and investigating his disappearance. He did not want them to find this hideout, and so he had but one option.

* * *

"You're kidding," Turpin exclaimed, still waving his flashlight in front of him to light their path.

"Not at all. The article will be on the front page of tomorrow's paper," Lois replied proudly. "After the interview, he actually took me flying with him. I can tell you for certain, that he is the real deal."

"I'd say," Turpin laughed. "It sounds like the over sized boy scout has it out for you."

Lois did not reply. She hoped that he was right, but how could she have a relationship with someone like Superman? It would not be your typical relationship. She had become so smitten with him, that all common sense had gone out the window. She realized that she had to start thinking with her head before things got too serious. "Now, we just have to convince everyone else."

"Easier said than done," Turpin frowned. "It is going to take awhile for people to warm up to a man from outer space."

"It sounds like you have already warmed up to him?" Lois grinned.

He nodded his head. "He saved your life, he saved my life, and he saved Maggie's life. To me, that's a mark of an alright kindda' guy."

The two of them continued down the subway tunnel, using their flashlights to inspect the walls and the track. Other than an occasional rat scurrying by the walls, the tunnel was completely empty with no signs of any hiding places. They finally reached the hole that was made during the fight earlier in the afternoon.

"Well, we walked all the way to the hole, and found absolutely nothing."

"He could not have just disappeared," Lois replied scratching her right temple with her index finger.

"On the contrary, I'm right here."

Turpin spun around to find Metallo standing directly in front of him. Before Turpin could do anything, Metallo swung his right arm into his chest, sending him crashing into the wall and rendering him out cold. Metallo turned his focus onto Lois. "You are exactly what I need, Lois Lane."

Her mind raced to recognize the human half of his face, until it just dawned on her. The way he used her name unlocked that mystery in her head. "John Corben, is that you?"

"John Corben is no more. I am Metallo, now," he glowered, as he approached her and towered over her. "I could not help but overhear that you have had quite an experience with Superman. That's good, because I need something that will get Superman's attention; and you, my dear, are that calling card."


	25. To The Rescue

**Chapter 25: To the Rescue**

Ever since the fight, earlier in the day, questions began to plague Clark's mind. He could not help but feel that Lex Luthor's name would somehow come up in his investigation. There were a lot of coincidences that led up to the android's first appearance. Since he knew Lex more than most people in Metropolis, he figured he would be able to find any links between him and the android; if any were to be found.

One of the biggest connections he made was that the android's body was possibly made of the same metal as the military prototype at the Lexcorp demonstration, a few days ago. He had fought both of them, and found both metals difficult to damage. That was enough to convince Clark of Lex's involvement with the android. However, there was no way of informing Lieutenant Turpin without exposing himself; and he needed more concrete evidence to present.

What he needed to do was to find a way to tie everything together. There were three events in the last few days: the prototype malfunctioning, John Corben's death, and the appearance of the android. Based on his experience, he knew Lex was tied to the android, but how did John Corben fit in all of this?

That was where Clark had to focus his investigation. The first part of his investigation was to find out what really happened to John Corben after the demonstration. For that, he looked into past newspapers for the past two days. His search did not take him long, at all. He ran into an article about a car malfunctioning out onto a busy road. The car was hit by an incoming semi truck. The victim was believed to be John Corben, who was wanted by the MPD and the MSCU. He was taken to Metropolis Central Hospital and was declared dead upon arrival.

That article was what brought Clark to the hospital. He walked up to the receptionist, who was busy filing her nails instead of her job. "May I help you?" She asked in her nasally voice.

"Yes, my name is Clark Kent of the Daily Planet. I am curious to know if a man by the name of John Corben was brought here recently."

"Are you related to the patient?" She asked dryly with a raised eyebrow.

"No, and he is not a patient. I am following up on a report that his body was brought to this hospital. Can I talk to someone who can confirm that report?"

"I'm sorry, but, unless you are a relative or with the law enforcement, we are not allowed to disclose medical information with you, especially if you are with the press."

"I understand," Clark replied. He exited out of the lobby, not willing to push the matter. If he came across as too pushy, he may inadvertently alert Lex that he was onto him. This now left him with only two options: let Lieutenant Turpin investigate his lead, or find a young hacker that could hack into the system. What it came down to was, if he wanted to handle this as Clark Kent or Superman?

As Clark Kent, he was limited in his resources. There was only so much Lieutenant Turpin would allow for a 'citizen' to assist in an investigation this big. As Superman, trying to go after Lex alone may isolate himself from the law enforcement. He wanted to have a working relationship with Lieutenant Tupin and Inspector Henderson of the MPD.

No, he had to keep a proper balance of Clark Kent and Superman in this investigation. He had to keep Turpin into the loop, which means he was going to have to get his help investigating this lead.

His attention was stolen by the distant sound of sirens echoing through the streets. Something big was happening in the city. He concentrated his hearing sense to listen to any sound that was out of the ordinary. Anything that was normal, he blanked it out of his hearing. He quickly pinpointed Lois Lane's voice crying for help.

"A super man's work is never done," Clark said to himself. He tore open his button down shirt, to reveal the giant, red _'S' _on his chest.

* * *

"Release me, John! I promise you to make, whoever did this to you, to pay." Lois urged, struggling to wiggle free from the rope that had her tied to a tree.

Metallo, as he now referred to himself, brought her to the Metropolis' public park. This was the only place for people to go jogging, bicycling, and to enjoy a Sunday afternoon picnic. He made one thing perfectly clear; he wanted Superman to find him, and this place was his best chance of being found.

"I have already done that," Metallo replied. "And the name is now Metallo."

"Then what is this really about?" Lois demanded. "What do you have against Superman?"

"If it wasn't for him, this would have never happened to me," he snarled. "I can no longer enjoy the simplest of pleasures that people like you take for granted. I can never again experience the delightful taste of pizza, or a cool refreshing bottle of beer."

"I'm sorry; John, but you can sell your sob story to some other sucker. You brought this all on yourself. Your actions got you fired from the Daily Planet. Your actions at the demonstration got you into this mess. Be a man, for once, and take responsibility for your actions."

Metallo roared as he charged at her with the back of his right hand raised, ready to deliver a life-ending slap. At the very last second, he regained his posture, and held back. "I have decided to let you live, but keep this up, and I may just change my mind."

Metallo turned to walk away just in time to have a fist come smashing into his chest, sending him sailing and crashing into another tree. With the blink of an eye, Superman was standing in front of Lois, and had already untied her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, but be careful, Superman; he's up to something."

"I will be careful. You do the same, and head for safety; this is about to become a war zone."" He doubted that she was going to take his advice, but he had to say something, anyway.

As she took off to a safe distance, Metallo was, already, back on his feet. "I knew you would answer my call, Superman. You're too predictable."

That confirmed it for him. Superman was now convinced that 'Metallo' was more than just an android. This, somehow, also made him more confident in his lead about the death of John Corben; now, if he could only make the connection. "You wanted my attention? Well, now you have it. I will not allow you to terrorize these people anymore."

"Terrorize these people?" Metallo laughed. "These people terrorized me. You have terrorized me!"

"I am sorry, but I do not understand," Superman replied, hoping that he was on the verge of getting the missing piece of the puzzle.

"Do you think I used to look like this? Do you, really, think that I am an invention of some mad scientist? What was your reaction when you first saw me? You thought I was some mindless android or monster," Metallo said angrily. "I used to be normal until my accident. I used to have a life of my own until it was all stolen from me!"

Superman's eyes revealed the horrific revelation that had just come to him. This was the missing connection that he had been seeking out. "Mr. John Corben?"

"Maybe once," Metallo said solemnly. "But he died at the wreck, and Metallo was born."

"I am so sorry, Mr. Corben." Superman said, refusing to use his new name. Perhaps there was a way to talk him down instead of resorting to violence. "Who did this to you? Was it Lex Luthor?"

Metallo laughed mockingly. "No, but I would not be surprised if he had a hand in it. I already dealt with the man responsible for this."

"Who, Mr. Corben. What is his name?"

"It doesn't matter anymore, now does it? He's dead and gone; and the same is about to be said of you."

"We do not have to do this, Mr. Corben. Tell me who did this, and maybe we can find a way to undo this mess, and give you your life back."

"Stop calling me that!" Metallo charged at him like an angry bull. He delivered a punch across the face. Hoping to have stunned his opponent, he went for a second punch, this time towards the gut.

Although he definitely felt the punch, it was not enough to keep Superman from blocking the attack to his gut. He caught Metallo's fist in the palm of his left hand. Superman pulled him closer with so much force, he could not fight back. He was pulled forward, straight into a punch into the face. Metallo flew backwards a few feet before taking a few skips on his back; much in the same way as a smooth stone skips across a pond. When his body stopped skidding, his body dug into the ground, creating a small crater.

This battle was just getting started, and it was not going to be long before people heard the commotion and swarmed around them. Lois, as he suspected, was watching from a safe distance, and he knew it was only a matter of time before she would be made a tool against him. He had to eliminate any chance of that happening.

Not giving Metallo any chance to recoup from the attack, Superman ran over to him and grabbed him by the ankle. Holding tightly, he began to spin Metallo around and around, picking up enough speed to, almost, match that of a helicopter propeller. When he was ready, he released him straight up into the air. Metallo's scream could be heard as he flew high up off the ground.

Superman shot up after him like a speeding missile. Just as Metallo began his descent downward, he came plowing into his gut like with both of his fists. He pushed him over the city of Metropolis. Just outside the city, a nice patch of wooded area began. That would be the perfect place to take this fight without putting anyone in danger.

He slowed down his speed just a smidge, to give him the room to be able to punch him down to the ground. Metallo fell like a meteorite hitting the ground, throwing up a dust cloud around the impact area.

Superman hovered down slowly, intentionally allowing Metallo time to recover. He had no intentions of decapitating John Corben, now known as Metallo; he was a man who was sick and needed help. "Last chance; let me get you some help. It does not have to be like this."

From the dust cloud, Metallo let out an uncontrollable laugh. "Oh, it certainly does. It's time you be brought down to size."

A green glowing light emanated from the dust cloud; and immediately, a wave of nausea swept over the Man of Steel. His legs wobbled, as he felt weak. Walking out of the dust cloud was Metallo, but his chest plate was swung open, revealing a green rock of Kryptonite.

"Kryptonite?" Superman uttered, fighting his body to remain standing.

"So that is what this wonderful little rock is called."

Metallo plugged Superman in the mouth, and in his weakened condition, he let out a moan as he hit the ground. "Look at yourself now? You're just a pathetic as everyone else."

Superman rolled onto his stomach, before he noticed a strange wet sensation where he had been punched. He used his fingers on his right hand to dab his lip to find blood on the tips of his fingers.

"I bet this is the first time you saw your own blood," Metallo laughed as he followed up with a kick to his ribs.

Letting out a yelp, Superman's cringed in pain. His skin had become pale, on the way of becoming a deathly gray color. His blue veins could almost be seen through his skin. He had to find a way to put some distance between himself and the kryptonite. It was the only way he would survive.

It took every inch of his remaining strength to crawl on his belly, away from Metallo. He knew the attempt was futile; he was going to need a miracle to get out of this mess.

His attempt to escape was laughable to Metallo. It was like watching a worm trying to crawl away from an attacking bird of prey. He looked at the pathetic looking excuse of a hero who was defenseless. As Superman reached out and grabbed the earth with his right hand, Metallo stomped as hard as he could on his fingers.

His scream could be heard for miles away. Severe pain coursed through his entire hand. He raised it up to see four of his fingers swollen and slightly twisted.

"What are you trying to do; escape?" Metallo mocked. "You cannot escape what is coming to you, not this time." He grabbed a handful of his hair and pulled his head back. He came down on his nose and mouth before throwing his face back into the dirt.

Groaning in pain, he clumsily lifted his head out of the dirt, blood spewing out of his nose. He spat out the blood that was building in his mouth from his lips.

Metallo reached down and grabbed Superman by the collar. He yanked him off the ground, and raised him over his head. "You're time on this planet is over!" He threw him into the trunk of one of the thickest trees he could find.

Superman hit the trunk with his stomach, nearly killing him by suffocation. He gasped, desperately seeking for enough breath to stay alive. He laid there helpless as Metallo approached him. "With that, have a nice trip to the afterlife." He knelt down with a raised fist. The last thing Superman saw was Metallo's fist coming down on him, before darkness overtook him.


	26. Clark Kent Missing

**Chapter 26: Clark Kent Missing**

Lois was so proud of her front page article, that she read it three times before lunch. Between the readings, however, her thoughts were on Superman. Was he successful against Metallo? No one had seen him since they departed from the park, and she found that deeply unsettling.

No, she was not going to go there with her thoughts. He was Superman; he was virtually indestructible. She convinced herself that no one had seen him around in Metropolis because there had not been any big emergencies in Metropolis since last night. That had to be the case.

Another thing that was weighing heavily on her mind was the whereabouts of her apprentice. Clark Kent had not shown up for work at all today. She asked the chief about him, but he had no idea where he was either; Clark had never called in sick. While no one in the office seemed to care about his location, something inside of her was telling her that she needed to be concern about this.

"Darn it, this is my best work ever, and Smallville isn't even here to read it."

"Hi, Miss Lane," Jimmy greeted with his normal enthusiasm. "Your article is becoming the talk of the town. Most of the newsstands in Metropolis have sold out all of their copies of the Daily Planet."

"That's great Jimmy," she responded, not really listening to what he said. "Say, have you seen Clark anywhere?"

"Now that you have mentioned it; no, I haven't? Perhaps he came down with the flu? It is that season."

"Hmmm," Lois hummed as her eyes narrowed in intense concentration. Her concentration did not last long, and ended abruptly as she jumped to her feet. "Jimmy, tell Perry that I am heading out."

"Sure, but do you think that something is wrong with Clark?"

Lois grabbed her purse from her desk and hooked the strap over her right shoulder. "It's probably nothing, but when it comes to Lex Luthor, one can never be too careful."

"I thought Clark and Lex Luthor were friends?" Jimmy replied, confused by her logic.

"One thing I am certain of, Jimmy; Lex Luthor has no friends other than a big bank account."

* * *

Lois was able to get a hold of Clark's address from the payroll department. It was far from ethical, and perhaps even illegal, but it did prove fruitful. If she was more computer literate, she could have accessed the accounts payable database and pull up Clark's file to find out where his checks were mailed to. Since that was not the case, she had to resort to a more old-fashioned method: looking through stacks of envelopes until she came across one addressed to Clark.

As time consuming as that was, she was able to explain her presence away to anyone who inquired. When she found his apartment address, she took a cab to Clark's address. When she arrived, she discovered that his apartment was on the tenth floor.

Entering the lobby, her first impression was less than thrilling. From the unsightly condition of the lobby, she knew she needed to be ready to see rat pellets everywhere. She wondered when the last time a maintenance man had stepped foot in this building. She went to the elevator to see it crossed off by yellow caution tape. "How come this dump is not condemned yet?"

She had no choice but to climb up ten flights of stairs. She muttered under her breath as she commenced her long climb up the filthy flight of steps. The conditions only got worse, as there were spots of rat urine on a few steps she passed on the way up. It was at the fifth level when she encountered her first live rat, which she nearly stepped on it. "I swear, Clark Kent, you better be dead or dying for putting me through this."

Her legs were starting to get tense by the tenth floor. She prayed that the apartment was in better shape than everything else she has seen. She walked down the narrow hall. The hallway was so narrow, that there was no possible way for anyone to pass someone else standing in the hallway. She found Clark's apartment number and knocked on the wooden door.

After two attempts, no reply came from inside. She was convinced that he was not inside, or in no condition to answer the door. So she had to find a way to break into the apartment. She tried the door handle first, not expecting the door to open; but she was startled when the door opened for her without hesitation.

"Clark, you really need to learn to lock your doors," She said to herself. She knew she should not be surprised. Clark Kent almost had a child-like innocence about him. She was surprised that he had lasted this long in Metropolis without being mugged or swindled by a con-artist.

She entered the house, and was relieved that it was cleaner than the rest of this forsaken building. "Clark, are you home? It's me, Lois."

Not only was it clean, it was virtually unfurnished except for couch, a card table, and a chair. There was no television in the apartment, but a bookshelf full of classic literature. "Wow, he really is a nerd."

In the kitchen, she found a cordless phone docked in it's recharging station. A red light flashed, announcing the presence of voice mail. There was no way she could guess what his pin number is; she did not know him close enough to even begin to venture a guess. She did, however, know enough about phones to check on phone numbers that had recently called.

She carefully began to test for buttons that would pull up the call list, hoping that it was not a complicated matter. After a few attempts, she stumbled upon the right button, and the LED screen started to display a list of names and/or numbers of recent callers. The first number she did not recognize, but the second one had a name above the phone number labeled _'MOM'_.

"Lois Lane, what are you thinking," She rebuked herself. Calling the mother of a co-worker was the tackiest thing imaginable, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

She pushed the call button and waited for someone to pick up. "Hi, Clark."

"Hello, I'm sorry to bother you, but my name is Lois Lane. I am a close friend of your son."

"What can I do for you, Ms. Lane?"

"I don't suppose you know where Clark maybe? No one around here has seen or heard from him in twenty-four hours."

There was a pause on the other line, as if Clark's mother was thinking carefully about her words. "I would not be worried, Ms. Lane. My son may look helpless, but I can assure you that he can take care of himself."

Lois wished she could believe that, but she knew Metropolis too well. With Lex Luthor nearly running the city, anything could have happened to him. Ms. Kent's words did not do much to sooth her uneasiness. Her next question, however, completely made her forget about the situation. "If it's not too intruding, are you and my son…close?"

"Close? Oh, no, no, no, no," she replied, imagining that she was probably blushing. "We're just friends. We're kind of like temporary partners at the Daily Planet."

"Oh." Lois could not help but detect the disappointment in her voice. It made Lois wonder about Clark's past love life. She wondered if he had gone through a hard break-up, or experiences a tragic heartache. "Well, I would not worry about my son. I am sure he is just fine."

"Very well, then. I'm sorry to have bothered you."

"It's perfectly alright. Take care now."

Lois hung up the phone and let out an unsatisfactory huff. His mother did not know where he was, but was, sincerely, certain that her son was safe. Her mind began to race with what her next step should be. Could it be that she was overreacting? It had only been twenty-four hours; there could easily be a simple explanation to his disappearance.

Certain that she was not going to find any more clues in this apartment; she made her way out of the building. She found that leaving the building was much quicker than going in. She was only happy to get out of that dirt hole of a place, which probably hastened her descent down the stairs. The moment she stepped out of the doors and back onto the streets of Metropolis, she took a big whiff of fresh air. She took the next minute just savoring how she had survived her worst experience ever.

A young woman plowed into her, having been too busy talking with her friend, to see where she was going. "Hey watch it!" Lois snapped.

Both young women did not even acknowledge her existence; they acted as if they had run into an invisible wall, and walked around her. "Wha- How rude!"

When more people ran past her in the same fashion, she knew something was happening. She finally recognized the sound of sirens quickly approaching. Sometimes she had become so accustomed to the sounds of Metropolis, that she was late in recognizing sirens. Anyone native to Metropolis was the same way.

A crises was happening on this very street, and where there was a crises, there usually was Superman. If he still lived after last night's battle, he would be around shortly, and then she could tell him about Clark's disappearance.

She followed the crowd of people, but did not have to go very far. Everyone gathered around a skyscraper, looking straight up. She followed everyone's line of sight to see Superman floating down, as gentle as a feather, with a woman in his arms. The fear in the woman's eyes told Lois that she had fallen off the rooftop, fallen off or jumped off, that is. Either way, she was just glad that one of the two missing people was found.

An ambulance arrived just as Superman's feet touched the ground. "There you go, Ms.; these paramedics will take good care of you from here on out."

Two paramedics came and escorted the woman in shock to the ambulance. Superman was ready to take off again, and Lois pushed through the crowd to try to get to him. "Wait, Superman! Over here!"

His attention was captured as he looked towards her. She pushed through the last few people to, finally, reach him. Seeing her, Superman gave his normal warm smile. "Hello, Ms. Lane."

"Oh thank god you're alright. I was afraid Metallo had some kind of trap for you."

He gave her a look, as if he did not understand what she was talking about. "You do not have to worry; nothing is going to happen to me. If you will excuse me now…"

"No wait!" Lois urged. "I need your help."

"What can I do for you?"

"This is kind of an awkward request, but a friend of mine, from the Daily Planet, has gone missing. His name is Clark Kent. I was showing him the ropes, and I probably got him involved with a very dangerous investigation too early."

"I am real sorry to hear that, Ms. Lane, but missing persons is not my department. You should report your concerns to someone in the Metropolis Police Department." His response was cold and heartless as he took to the sky.

Lois was left there, even more confused than ever. He no longer used her first name, and he showed no personal interest in her or anyone. This was the first time he was willing to turn a blind eye on the well being on someone in trouble. She could not hide the shock she was feeling. "What was that?"


	27. Sold Out

**Chapter 27: Sold Out**

Another day had come and gone, and Clark Kent was still nowhere to be seen. Now, Lois was certain that something was wrong. The last time anyone had seen him was here at his desk. She surmised that he was doing something on his desktop computer, but what?

"You wanted to see me, Miss Lane?" Jimmy asked, with his camera in hand. Whenever Lois needed his help, it usually involved photography, since that was what he did for the Daily Planet.

This time, he had a surprise coming to him. "Yes, you are a young man, and into computers and video games and all that technology junk, right?"

"Uh, I suppose," Jimmy said, not quite sure what she was getting at.

"Do you know enough about computers to help me find out what the last thing Clark was doing on his computer?"

"It depends. I assume that all the desktops are connected through a network, but do you know if the chief has installed any web activity tracking software?"

"A what?"

"Never mind," Jimmy said, as he turned on the computer. He expected a long booting sequence as was common with Vista machines, but instead, it immediately went to the desktop with the logo of the Daily Planet as it's wallpaper. "Ah, good, I was afraid I was going to have to go to the IT department to find out Clark's password. He never fully shut down the computer."

"Are you sure? It was not making any type of noise."

"I'm sure. The computer was just hibernating," Jimmy replied as he started browsing for a web activity tracking software.

"Hibernating like a bear?"

"Hibernating is a term that describes the state of a computer. Hibernating is when the computer the computer records the current state of the computer onto the hard drive just before it powers down. Waking up a computer in hibernation is faster than powering it on, and is used for power conservation."

"That's just weird," Lois said with a frown.

Jimmy browsed through the computer for the software, but after a few minutes, he shook his head. "Well, if there is a tracking software, it is running invisibly on the lowest kernel of the operating system. It will take too long to find it."

"Jimmy, I do not speak geekese; speak English."

Jimmy was about to respond when Perry White came storming up to the two of them. "Have either of you seen Clark Kent anywhere?"

"Sorry, chief," Lois shrugged. No one knows where he is," Lois responded. She did not want him to know that she was trying to find him instead of doing her own job. The last thing she needed was her boss chewing her out and telling her to leave the investigating to the police.

"Well, he'd better show up soon, or he's going to find himself out of a job," Perry said and stormed off to his office.

"It looks like he's in a bad mood today," Jimmy whispered, not daring to allow himself to be overheard by the boss.

"He is always in a bad mood, Jimmy. Now, let's see what else we can find, shall we?"

"Alright," Jimmy said. "Okay, so there is no tracking software, but maybe…yes!"

"What is it?" Lois asked, expecting that he had found something important.

"He uses Firefox. This is going to be cakewalk."

"What is Firefox?"

"It is a web browser, just like Internet Explorer. Firefox has a feature that automatically restores the last session." Jimmy clicked on the Firefox logo, and the web browser opened. Displaying on the screen was an on-line article about the car accident that John Corben was in.

Lois leaped out of the chair in alarm. "He's investigating the John Corben accident. He doesn't know that he and Metallo are the same person! I have to report this to Lieutenant Turpin."

* * *

Turpin was happy to see Lois when she came down to headquarters. This was the first time they had seen each other since encountering Metallo down in the abandoned subway tunnel. When he regained consciousness, he found his way back to the surface. He went to find Lois, but when he heard that she had been rescued, he had called off his search and went home. Now, here she was; sitting in his office, on the other side of his desk. However, he got the distinct feeling that this was not a leisure visit from Miss Lane.

"So what can I do for you?"

"Clark has been missing for two days. No one has seen him, and he has not been at his apartment during that time either."

"Mr. Kent, that new kid that works with you? Do you suspect foul play?"

"The last thing he was doing before he disappeared was looking into John Corben. Dan, John Corben is Metallo?"

Turpin was not expecting that news. He had been investigating where that android came from, but somehow this reporter had uncovered something that his investigation could not. "How do you know?"

"I told you that I used to know Corben during his days at the Planet. I got him to admit it when he used me as bait for Superman."

Turpin rubbed his chin as he put a mind-bending puzzle together in his head. "Are you sure you were not experiencing Stockholm Syndrome at the time?"

She scowled at him with her eyes. "Trust me, I have no sympathy at all for Corben. I am concerned, however, for Clark Kent. He has no idea that he is getting himself into."

"Well, no one has seen gruesome since the brawl and Superman is still flying around. We might have seen the end of Metallo, or whatever he calls himself. It doesn't look likely that Mr. Kent had enough time to run into him."

"It's possible, but shouldn't we look into, anyway?" Heaven knows, she hoped that Turpin was right, because anyone who met up with Metallo would most likely not survive the encounter. She was the type of person to investigate the worst possible scenario first, to try to eliminate that possibility. If she failed, then she had one hell of a story, but if she succeeded, then she can convince herself that things could have been worse.

"You're right, and we will," Turpin replied. "To continue the investigation that Clark had started, we need to get a court order. I think we can get one within a day or two. I know that's a long time when dealing with missing person cases, but I am bound by the law. It would be easier if Superman would be willing to help."

"I've tried asking Superman for help, but he is not acting like himself. He refused to even lift a finger."

Turpin nodded. He had noticed the same thing about Superman. He was still polite and heroic, but there was something different about him. He could not put a finger on exactly what it was. "I think I know what you mean. Anyway, I think there is another angle we can investigate while waiting on the court order."

"And that is?"

"I think you're going to like this idea," Turpin grinned. "I think we should investigate Luthor. If I remember correctly, Mr. Kent and Luthor were old friends. At the demonstration, Lex pulled Mr. Kent aside for a talk. Maybe we should find out what the two of them talked about."

She had almost forgotten about that incident. Clark did say that the talk did not end well. Would Lex Luthor turn on his old friend to protect his investments and his business? Lois would bet two years of her salary that he would. "I'll do anything to get another opportunity for exposing that scumbag for what he really is."

* * *

Lex had calculated that this visit from the very beginning. Clark Kent was missing, and he knew it was only a matter of time before Lois would want to know why. She would not dare confront him alone. Like everyone else in Metropolis, she was intimidated by what he could do to her. So she would come with Lieutenant Dan Turpin, and that was exactly what he wanted.

The time had come to show them and all of Metropolis that he was not to be trifled with. He waited for Mercy to bring Lieutenant Turpin and Lois Lane to his office. He could not wait to see their faces by the end of this confrontation.

From all the way across the room, the elevator doors opened and out walked his assistant, followed by the Chief Lieutenant Turpin and Lois Lane. The tapping of their feet on the hard floors echoed through the whole office, which happened to be the entire top floor of Lexcorp tower. As they approached his desk, he kept his arrogant outward appearance.

"Thank you, Mercy. I cannot keep affording these personal meetings, Lieutenant Turpin; my time is my money. Now, what can I do for you?"

"We have some questions for you about your past friendship with Clark Kent. You two were good friends back in elementary school, correct?"

"We were the best of friends," Lex admitted. "Why does this concern you two?"

"Because Clark Kent went missing two days ago," Turpin replied, already getting agitated with the man's ego and arrogance that emanated off him.

"You're kidding?" Lex acted surprised by the news. He had to continue playing dumb until the right moment in the conversation. "Are you doing anything to find him?"

"We're doing everything possible. I want to know what you two talked about at the demonstration."

Like always, Lois was keeping her mouth shut. He surmised that the lieutenant has asked her to let him do all the talking. "Not much, really. I merely offered him a job here at Lexcorp. I really anticipated that he would jump at the opportunity to work with me as a partner."

"A partner, really?" Lois replied. That was not a light position to be offered. A position like that could earn someone a six or, even, a seven figure annual salary.

"Really, Miss Lane. He and I were very close."

"But he turned you down?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Lex nodded. "Apparently we are not as close as we used to be in school."

"I bet that just eats you up inside," Lois could not hold back any longer. She could not resist twisting the knife deeper into his back. She was proud of Clark for standing up to him. "It eats you up, that Clark had enough morals and dignity to turn you down; you hate being turned down by anyone."

"To be as successful as I am, being turned down is not something I usually accept." The time had come. It was time to crush their hopes of a Metropolis without him.

"So why this time? Why should I believe that this time isn't any different? What is to prevent me from believing that you disposed of Clark Kent in retaliation for his rejection?"

"Because, I have no need for revenge," Lex said calmly. "Actually, I am glad that he turned my offer down, because I have found a far superior business partner."

"You have a new business partner?" Lois was stunned by this revelation. She, truthfully, did not believe that he would tolerate sharing his profits with anyone. Finding a partner was way out of character for the likes of Luthor. "Who?"

"Feel free to write this announcement in your next article, Miss Lane. It's time all of Metropolis to learn of my new partner. Mercy, will you invite him to join us?"

"Sure thing, boss," Mercy smiled.

She walked up to one of the giant windows looking out upon the Metropolis horizon. She flipped a latch and slid the window open. What happened next was beyond any form of comprehension. Both Turpin and Lois were in utter shock as Superman came flying through the window and landed on the hard marble floor of the office. He nodded towards them with a polite smile on his face as he walked up to the side of his desk.

"No freakin' way!" Turpin felt a sudden wave of nausea sweep over him.

"I believe you two are already acquainted with Superman. He is my new partner."

Lois shook her head, refusing to believe what she was seeing. She had to be dreaming; this could not really be happening. "No, you can't be Superman. I refuse to believe it."

"It really is me, Ms. Lane," Superman replied with his typical charm.

"The real Superman would never sell out his principals of fighting for truth, justice, and the American way."

"I have violated no such principal. I feel that Lex Luthor and I could change this world for the better. I am not doing this for the money. On the contrary, I am not making any money at all on this transaction," he replied, scratching an itch on the right side of his jaw.

Turpin could not have been more disappointed in his life. He truly believed that Superman had honesty and integrity beyond that of any man he had ever met. That illusion was now shattering into a million pieces. "No, this is bull! This is completely bull! I don't care who either of you are. One of these days, I am going to take you both down. I don't care how strong you are; no man is above the law. General Lane was right about you. He was right about everything. If you make one micro step out of bounce, I'm taking you down, Supermam."

He turned and stormed towards the elevator. Lois could not hide the tear that was strolling down the side of her face. Her heart had been ripped apart. This was not the man she had feelings for. Everything she knew about him was a lie.

She woefully followed Turpin to the elevator. Lex Luthor resisted laughing, mockingly, at the two of them as they left; doing so would be beneath his dignity. Superman stayed where he was and scratched again at the itch. What no one noticed was that under the pale skin, that he was scratching at, was milky white skin, almost like an albino.


	28. A Hero's Sin

**Chapter 28: A Hero's Sin**

With Superman gone, Metallo had no idea what he wanted to do next. He had kept to himself down in the underground lair that belonged to Lex Luthor. He had hoped that Lex would come down, eventually, so he rid Metropolis of another scum bag. So far, there had been no visits from Lex or anyone underneath him. It was impossible to believe that someone would not show up here at some point; even if it was just a maid. The lair was properly kept up; there was no dust on the furniture, and the carpets have been vacuumed.

As he explored the lair, he had found some neat hidden features that should not have surprised him. Sitting at the replica of the Presidential desk, he found a hidden panel of buttons. After testing the buttons, he found one, which caused a giant theater screen to drop from the roof. Automatically programmed to appear on the screen was MNN news channel.

He had to hand it to Lex Luthor, this was the perfect setup. He could literately live down here for years, and know exactly what is going on in the world above. The man may be a freak, but he was no dummy.

Metallo was content being down here by himself, and watch the world despair at the death of Superman. Unfortunately, there had not been one report about his death in two days now. Could it be that no one had found his body yet? Perhaps he should have tossed his carcass back into Metropolis so everyone could see.

As he contemplated on going back and doing just that, a report on the News pulled him from his thoughts. It was about a woman who had fallen down the side of a skyscraper, but he was not prepared for what was reported next. The woman survived when she was rescued by Superman. "What? That's impossible!" Metallo shot up to his feet; anger began to boil up inside of him.

The information was confirmed when they showed a picture, taken from a cell phone camera, of superman saving the woman. There was no faking an image like that. Superman was anything but dead. The clear-cut picture showed him to be of perfect health and stamina; there was not one single scratch on him.

"No!" He screamed violently and followed up with smashing the computer chair, which he had been sitting on, upon the Statue of David. Large pieces fell from the statue fell onto the ground, but Metallo could not care less about Luthor's stupid piece of art. Superman was still alive, and he was going to have to find a way of keeping him dead.

* * *

When Lieutenant Turpin and Captain Sawyer arrived at the crime scene, the police had already barricaded the surrounding area with police tape and squad cars. A hostage situation had developed at the Metropolis National Museum. Turpin was not at all anxious about coming to the crime scene, because there was a very good possibility of Superman coming in to save the day. The thought of Lex Luthor having a hand in saving the day made him sick to his stomach.

"I'm sorry Dan, but I have troubles believing that Superman would sell out to Lex Luthor." During the drive to the crime scene, he had told her the whole story about last night's visit with Luthor. Having been saved by Superman, she knew enough about him to know that selling out was not in his repertoire. She rubbed the bandage wrapped around her forehead.

"Well believe it. Leave it to Luthor to make himself look like a hero," He muttered.

Turpin found Inspector Henderson, who was put in command of the situation. When he saw the two of them approaching, he gave them a courtesy nod. "Dan…Maggie."

"What do we have?"

"Some madman, who calls himself the Toyman, has taken an entire elementary school class hostage. His real name is Winslow Schott. He is threatening to blow the kids up, unless his ransom is met."

"What is the ransom?" Captain Sawyer asked.

"A million dollars," the Inspector replied.

"Do you think he is involved with that punk group of kids: the Intergang?"

The Inspector shook his head. "Something like this is not part of their MO. This guy is just another twisted individual who gets his kicks by terrorizing kids."

Turpin would have to agree with the Inspector's assessment of the situation. The Intergang was a group of juvenile delinquents who were more into high-tech crimes. The leader of the gang, Bruno Manheim, was just as hard to find as trying to nail Lex Luthor as the criminal mastermind of Metropolis was. He had no doubt that Luthor had Manheim well hidden and protected.

"I assume that the bomb squad and the SWAT are on their way?" Sawyer asked.

"There are, but I am still hoping that Superman will get the job done before they actually arrive."

Turpin grunted; that was the last thing he wanted. As far as he was now concerned, he should just hang up his cape and leave this blasted planet. Somehow, he sensed that that would never happen. Life in Metropolis had just gotten more complicated.

* * *

Everyone called him crazy; so be it. Everyone was entitled to their opinions; though those opinions were about to cost them an entire class full of children. Toyman could care less about the money. None of this was about cash. This was about instilling fear among the people of Metropolis; the ransom was only a tool to buy him enough time to assure he can achieve maximum carnage.

Everything was going according to plan, and not even Superman would risk harming the children. If he came to rescue the children, he had the perfect distraction that would give Toyman the opportunity to escape. When he was safely away, he bombs would detonate. Superman would survive, but the children and the teacher would perish.

He noticed one of the children refusing to be consoled by the teacher. He approached the boy in a non threatening gesture and knelt down before the boy. "Aww, don't cry little boy. Soon, all of this will be behind you, I promise. Say, I have this cuddly teddy bear that I just happen to have with me. Do you like teddy bears?"

The boy gave an affirmative moan after letting out an over-exaggerated sniffle. Toyman smiled and as he reached for a medium sized plush teddy bear. "This is a very special teddy bear to me. I want you to have it; it will help you get through all of this. This bear will keep you safe and secure; you have my promise."

He handed the bear to the young boy, and he cautiously accepted it. When he turned the bear around, the boy screamed in horror. The face of the teddy bear had red glowing eyes, and demonic facial features, including vampire fangs. Fire crackers started to explode with the bear, scaring the boy and causing him to drop the bear. Before it could touch the ground, the bear was engulfed in flames.

Toyman let out a child-like laugh; jumping back up onto his feet. "It's a toy that I like to call: the Bear from Hell."

The boy started wailing in fright, and ran right into the teacher's arms. "You're a monster!" She gasped in utter disgust.

"Thank you, my dear," he gave her a formal bow like an actor on Broadway. "I do my best."

The building shimmied slightly as the rooftop crumbled, sending large pieces of debris falling to the ground. Superman hovered through the hole in the roof, feet first, to land in front of Toyman. With his arms folded in front of him, he showed no indications of being in any mood for games. "I assume that you are the one hiding behind children like a coward. It is time that you surrender yourself to the authorities.

Just as he anticipated, Superman had arrived before the bomb squad or the SWAT team did. The time had come for him to make his dramatic exit. "Oh, I don't think so."

Toyman pulled a remote from his pocket. With a grin, he pressed the only red button on the personally made device. That was when Superman noticed that there were a number of four feet tall nutcrackers throughout the room. They all came to life and spun around so they all faced Superman. The mouths dropped open, revealing barrels from machine guns pointing directly at him. The toys began to unleash all of their firepower at him. He just stood there and looked at the toys as all the bullets bounced off of him harmlessly. The children and teacher fell to the floor, desperately trying to avoid being hit by the reflected bullets.

This attempt by the odd, little man was laughable at best. Did he actually believe these guns would do anything against him? Squinting his eyes, he started taking quick pot-shots at the nutcracker toys with his heat beams. He was taking them down quickly and easily. It only took one quick shot to destroy them. These were the most pathetic weapons he had ever seen.

* * *

The Toyman was almost out of the Museum, heading towards the emergency exit. He knew Superman would take out his guns without any problems. After dealing with the guns, he was going to look for the bomb, but even with his quick speed, it would be too late. By now, the timer was at thirty seconds, which was just enough time for him to make his escape; or so he thought.

A quick breeze blew past him, and before he knew it, Superman was standing in front of him, again with his arms folded in front of him. "You were not going to leave the party early, now were you?"

"Apprehend me if you want, but are you really going to let the children die? A bomb is about to go off and all the little kiddies are about to be no more. So what will it be, Superman: me or the children?"

Superman looked down at him with a sadistic smile on his face. "Oh, I assume you are talking about the bomb that you hid in the mummy's tomb."

Toyman's smug look on his face turned to one of disbelief. "How? There is no way you could have found it that fast?"

"They do not call me Superman for nothing," He grinned. "I think it's time that you and I had a talk.

* * *

"We have gun shots fired! Prepare to go in!" Inspector Henderson ordered.

The SWAT team had not arrived yet, but they had no choice. People could be dying, and they needed to try to save as many of the hostages. A group of police officers with bullet proof vests prepared to storm the museum. Turpin, Sawyer and Inspector Henderson all raced to put on their vests. The gun fire from inside the museum had died down before they finished getting their vests on.

"What do you supposed that means?" Sawyer asked.

"I'm afraid to find out," the police inspector responded.

"Uh, Dan, look up!" Sawyer said, pulling him back two steps.

He looked up to see Superman hovering twenty stories over the heads. It appeared that he had a man with him, way up off the ground. "That's Mr. Schott he has!" the inspector exclaimed. "What is he up to?"

Turpin shook his head; an uneasy feeling swept over him. "I have a very bad feeling about this."

* * *

"What are you doing?" Toyman screamed in his raspy voice. He had never been so scared in his life. Superman found the look in his face…amusing.

"Scum like you, make me sick. You get your kicks by terrorizing those who cannot defend themselves. So how does it feel with the shoe on the other foot?"

"Pl-pl-please! I'm sorry! I'll never do it again! Just put me down!" he pleaded for his life.

"I consider myself to be a generous man," Superman said. "But I am also a very busy man; I am trying to clean up the streets of Metropolis, and you have no idea how hard it is to do that under this annoying, yellow sun. I am stuck on this planet with this yellow sun, which only impedes my abilities, and dirt bags like you just make it even harder for me to do my job."

"I'll quit! I swear to god, I'll quit! Please, have mercy!"

Superman appeared to think about his plea. "I hear that God is a merciful God. I suppose that means that I am not a god after all."

He released his hold of Toymans shirt, sending him plummeting downward to the ground. His scream followed him all the way down, and ended abruptly when his body crashed onto the roof of a police car.

* * *

"Oh my god!" Sawyer gasped, having to turn away from the gruesome outcome.

He would be lying if Turpin said that a part of was happy that this tragedy could be very costly for Luthor. Mostly, however, he was completely horrified and disturbed by this turn of events. He wished to god that this was all just a bad dream.

All the police officers were equally as stunned by the development. Some of them refused to believe what they had just seen, but there was no questioning the dead, bloody body that they now had on their hands. "I think we no longer have a choice in the matter," Turpin muttered. "Put out an APB for Superman."

"And how do you suppose we'll be able to bring him in?" Sawyer asked.

"I have no blasted idea."


	29. Round Three

**Chapter 29: Round 3**

"What have you done!" Lex snapped.

Never in his life had he been so angry. The anger he was unleashing was beyond anything Mercy had ever witnessed or experienced. She fought the urge to leave the room and leave Superman to the scalding that was coming to him, but she knew that Lex would frown on her leaving.

There was a part of her that could not believe he had the gull to rebuke Superman the way he was. If the alien wanted to, he could kill Lex without thinking about it. That was what concerned her the most about this plan; how could Lex actually control someone with god-like abilities?

"The man was trash, Luthor," Superman defended himself firmly. "Anyone who is willing to kill children for fun deserves to die."

"That is beside the point!" Lex retaliated. "You're job is to help the police and fire fighters, and keep them on our side. That is kind of hard to do when you off the criminal by dropping him twenty stories to his death."

"You try helping these people out. They are nothing but whinny, helpless, ignorant children. It's bad enough that I have to put up with this planet's yellow sun as it is."

"Wait a minute!" Lex raised a hand. In his interview, he said that his abilities came from the yellow sun. How could this have changed? "Earth's sun is bothering you?"

There was only one logical answer, and it was even more frightening than the predicament he was now in. Upon a closer inspection of Superman, he was able to confirm his worst fears. His pale face was turning pure white, and his eyes were going from a dark blue to a blood red.

"Of course it does," Superman replied. "My powers are being limited by it's radiation. My strength is at it's best during stormy weather."

This was not good at all. This was a whole different issue that needed tending to immediately. "I'll take care of the mess. Leave me alone to think about this."

Superman was tired of the conversation anyway. He made his way to the open window and took off. Mercy's head was spinning with the sudden turn of events. She was not quite sure what had just happened, but she had noticed the growing white patch of skin on Superman's face. "That white skin on his face is serious isn't it."

"It is very serious; it means our cloning experiment is a failure. It appears that when my scientists tampered with the DNA, an unseen side effect happened. I had hoped that we could turn his weakness to his strength, but it appears that his strengths are becoming his weaknesses."

"So Kryptonite makes the clone stronger, but the sunlight is slowly killing him? How bizarre.!"

"It certainly is," Lex agreed.

Mercy's Iphone went off in her pocket. She pulled it out and unlocked the screen with a swipe of her right forefinger across the screen. "If you will pardon me, boss, I have an urgent matter to check up on."

"Go deal with it, and report back to me if need be."

Mercy raced for the elevator, which told Lex that he was more than likely going to be contacted by her shortly. It probably had to do with the actions of his faulty clone. While she checked up on the situation, he had questions that needed to be answered.

Lex Luthor pressed a button underneath the lip of his desk and the far wall on his left slid open to reveal a dimly lit passage. The passage way was not built so elegantly as the rest of his office; it resembled more like a dungeon, with it's floors and walls made of pure concrete. The passage was only lit by a row of single florescent light bulbs.

Lex followed the pathway all the way to the end, where there was a large steel-armored door. It was the same type of door that banks used for their vaults to protect valuables entrusted to them. This door was modified with a small, bulletproof, see-through shield that would allow him to look inside.

When he looked in, he was shocked to see that Superman was still alive, if barely. With his wrists chained to a wall and the room glowing green from the Kryptonite exposure, Superman's skin was an elderly gray. Actually, his facial features looked like that of an elderly man, except for his hair, which remained black. His face was becoming wrinkly and narrow, and his eyes were nearly bulging out of the eye sockets. He was the poster boy for one of those infomercial trying to raise money for the starving children in third world countries.

He had hoped that the Kryptonite would have worked faster; the longer he remained the live, the more of a liability he became. He appeared weak enough to be killed by more conventional means now, but Lex was not the type to get blood on his hands, especially when he was talking about his former friend. He would let the space rock do the job for him, no matter how long it took.

"Where did my science go wrong?" He muttered to himself as he stared at the pathetic looking man inside his vault.

As he predicted, his Iphone rang from the pocket of his sports coat. He grabbed the phone and answered the call. "what is it, Mercy?"

"Boss, he took it! That blasted clone took it!"

"What did he take?"

"The AWM-101A prototype missile! He took the weather manipulating missile!"

"Crap!" Lex knew exactly what the clone was thinking of doing, and now his problems had just compounded itself.

* * *

Sawyer was given the job to search the medical records of John Corben. Clark Kent was on to something before he disappeared. If Sawyer had to guess, she thought that Clark had found a connection between Corben and Luthor. Whether he knew that Corben was Metallo before he disappeared, she had no idea.

She came to John Corben's death certificate. He was pronounced dead on arrival in the early afternoon. The doctor who pronounced the death was Dr. Dale Donnovan. "I don't recognize that name," She said to herself.

She found the sheet with the hospital employee dossier, and reread the list and could not find that name anywhere. "That's strange."

She pulled out her cell phone and dialed the Hospital's office. After several rings, someone on the other side finally picked up. "Yes, this Captain Maggie Sawyer of the MSCU. I have a question about the medical records that was sent to us. I am interested in talking to Doctor Dale Donnovan."

The response from the receptionist did not make sense at first. "He is not on your payroll? So he only comes in for special jobs? Do you know whose payroll he is on or what hospital he considers his home base?"

Sawyer listened intently to the answer to her question. "That facility is outside of Metropolis, correct? Okay, thank you very much."

After she ended the call, she googled the new hospital name on her desktop computer. This hospital was just as big and renowned as Metropolis' main hospital. On the website, she was able to locate the list of doctors who worked at the hospital and found an image of Dr. Donnovan among the large list. The man appeared to be middle-aged, but was prematurely going bald. He had a pair of wire-thin framed glasses that completed his stereotypical appearance of a medical doctor.

His name was hyper linked, so she used the mouse to click on it, and it took her to a biography page. On this page, it listed all of his degrees and medical achievements. What stuck out to her was that he had a very close relationship with Lex Luthor. In fact, Luthor had a huge sum of money invested in his bio-genetic engineering research. He was friends with and worked closely with a robotic engineer by the name of Professor Vale. "Very interesting. Lex Luthor, Doctor Donnovan, and Professor vale; that's a very dangerous combination."

Her cell phone chimed, and she knew that it was Turpin, who was calling just by the ringtone that her phone was playing. She pressed the green accept button on her touch screen smartphone. "Dan, I think I have found something very interesting that you should look at."

"No time for that now," he replied. "Meet me at the rooftop immediately, and join me and Lois Lane in the helicopter."

"What's going on?"

She was not expecting his reply at all. "Metallo is back, and he and Superman are at it big time; they are causing a huge amount of damage to the city."

* * *

Metallo had not been expecting this at all. In their first two encounters, he fought in a style as to try to avoid collateral damage, but this was no longer the case. He showed very little care for the people of this city; his fighting technique was far more aggressive than before.

He braced himself for another painful hit as Superman picked up a four-door Sudan by the front of the car, and swung it at him like a baseball bat. He found himself flying backwards until he collided head on with an oncoming car. The collision was catastrophic to the car as the entire front was smashed in. Metallo was built to take such punishment, but the automobile was not. He could feel the engine being pushed in. He could not see through the cracked windshield, but he was pretty sure that anyone inside of the car was dead upon impact.

Metallo staggered away from the collision only to find something above his overshadowing him. He looked up to see Superman coming down on top of him, smashing the bottom of the car on his head. The car came down with a sickening thug.

Watching the brawl from the sky, Turpin, Lois, and Sawyer gasped at the gruesome trail of destruction that was in their wake. Lois was asked to join them on the helicopter more for her own protection. She had ties to both Superman and Metallo, and Turpin was going to, personally, make sure she was kept away from this mess. "I-I don't know what to think," she said, struggling to find the words to describe this situation. "It's like two super powered villains are going at it to determine who will run Metropolis."

"It's a sad day when I have to put my hopes on Superman losing this fight," Turpin said. "Something just does not add up in all of this. Perhaps his rational behavior is tied in with his white skin. It may be just me, but despite this massive display of power, Sups does not look well."

Lois had noticed the same thing. The more his skin turned white, the more irrational, reckless, and aggressive he became. "Perhaps he was exposed to Kryptonite."

"Krypta-what?" Turpin asked.

"Kryptonite is a meteorite that is actually a part of his home world. His powers developed because of being exposed to the radiation of our sun over time. The sun on his planet was red; an entirely different type of radiation. He told me that being exposed to these fragments can be harmful to him."

"It sounds like something Lex would be able to figure out," Turpin replied, trying to put everything they had learned together. "We have Lex Luthor financing two men who may have the knowhow to turn Corben into Metallo. Now how does Superman fit in all this?"

"He's Superman," Sawyer replied. "Why would he not want him in a position where he can control him?"

"Uh, guys, the brawl is picking up steam again!" Lois announced.

Down on the ground, Metallo had gained the momentum over Superman. He had him on his hands and knees, which allowed him to kick him in the ribs. The kick caused Superman to roll onto his back, and this was the best opportunity Metallo had to finish this fight. "This time, I finish what I started." His chest plate opened up, revealing the green rays from the Kryptonite.

* * *

At the worst possible moment, the fight was taken to a spot that the helicopter could not get a good view of the fight. "The buildings are blocking the view! Hurry up and get lower if you have to!" Turpin ordered the pilot of the helicopter.

* * *

Metallo unveiled his Kryptonite heart, sensing that he had once more won the battle over Superman. That sense of victory came to a surprising halt when Superman grinned. "You are a fool," he said as he climbed onto his feet, causing Metallo to step back two steps. "Kryptonite only makes me stronger!"

Metallo was stunned at what he was seeing; there was no mistaken that it was the meteorite in his chest that gave him the victory of Superman last time. Why was it not working now? This was not logical. "Impossible! I saw what this stuff work on you the last time!"

"Perhaps, I'm not the same man that I was before." Superman delivers a jab to his left side of his face. The punch was given with more force than any blow he had given him earlier. He was telling the truth, his strength was increasing dramatically.

Metallo quickly shut his chest plate, but at a cost of doing so, Superman was given a free shot at him. The man took advantage of the moment and grabbed Metallo by the throat. He picked him up until his feet left the ground, and then chocked slammed him onto the pavement. The pavement cracked upon impact, leaving him in a large dent.

Superman did not give him the chance to recover. He reached down and grabbed his metal ankle. He hoisted him off the ground as he spun around for two complete rotations before tossing him across the street, and through the third story window of a ten story mini-skyscraper.

* * *

The fight was brought back into their view. They had gotten almost a little too close to the action and the pilot had to quickly pull back up to a safer distance. "There they are!" Lois pointed out.

"I don't like the look on Superman's face," Turpin muttered, feeling that something bad was about to happen.

His gut feeling proved to be deadly accurate. Superman shot up from the ground like a bullet until he was higher than the building. Squinting his eyes, two intense heat beams shot at the first level of the building.

"He's gone absolutely nuts!" Sawyer exclaimed. "That office building has close to a thousand people inside! We've got to stop him!

Flames quickly engulfed the entire first level and crawled up the side of the building. The heat that he was using was more intense than anything humanly imaginable. There was no time to stop him; it was already too late. Superman ceased his heat beam attack and shot down towards the flaming building with his fists first.

He crashed through the weakening building structure with such force, the ground for the surround block shook. Seconds later, the ten story building began to collapse downward upon itself. The people on the ground ran for their lives as a dust cloud spread out and began to shroud the streets around what was now ground zero. All ten levels collapsed, but no one from the ground or sky could see the damage through the dust cloud.

"Oh my god," Lois gasped, her face already saturated with tears.

There were no words that describe this horrific act. This was nothing short of a terrorist act by the man whom this town had once deemed as their hero. Hovering over ground zero, Superman looked down upon the results of his action, and smiled.

Even Turpin had to choke back the tears at what he had just witnessed. "Kryptonite or not, I no longer have a choice in the matter. I'm calling in General Lane."

* * *

Breaking through the giant heap of mangled steel and cement was no easy feat, but after what felt like an eternity of digging, Metallo had finally reached the surface. Damaged by having a ten story building collapsing on top of him, he needed time to make repairs. Thankfully, the dust cloud which continued to blanket the area provided him cover to make his escape.

He needed time for more than just repairs, but to figure out what just happened. This was beyond anything that Superman would have done. The kryptonite should have worked, so what happened? The more he thought about it, the more he came to the same logical conclusion: the man he was fighting was not the real Superman.


	30. The Truth is Revealed

**Chapter 30: The Truth is Revealed**

What had possessed her to search the underground railroad tunnels again, she had no idea. After what happened last time, she would have thought better of searching the tunnels alone. She did not tell Turpin of her intent to come back here; he would have just tried to convince her otherwise. She figured that there was no more danger since Superman had just killed Metallo. Perhaps she could find where Corben had been hiding out, and get some answers to her questions in the process. It was probably a long shot, but it was worth the time and effort to know for certain.

The Last time she was down here, Metallo had come out of nowhere to jump her and Lieutenant Inspector Tuprin. That meant that they had missed something down here the first time around. This time, she took her time; shinning the light on any and every crack on the wall. There was a hidden passage down here somewhere; she just had to be patient and thorough enough to find it.

Despite knowing that Metallo was not going to be jumping out and kidnapping her again, being alone in these dark tunnels made her very skittish. It had not crossed her mind that someone else could be lurking down here in the murky depths of Metropolis. It was too late, now, to turn change her mind and turn back. At least she knew some moves to defend herself with against normal criminals.

As she ran her light up and down the wall, she began to feel that she was wasting too much time. With the stretch of tunnel that she had yet to search, this could take her all the way into the morning hours. Perhaps having some help would have been a good idea after all.

She came to a warning sign on the wall. It was for workers who used to work down here when the subway was active. She took a closer look at the sign and felt around for any abnormalities. When she did not feel anything out of the ordinary, she began to play with the sign, itself; checking to see if it budged in any certain direction. To her amazement, she was able to pull the sign downward; and when she did, a hidden door became prevalent, and slid open. "Lois Lane, you're a genius!" She said proudly to herself.

She was expecting the hidden room to be some sort of filthy supply room with rats running rampant, but she was not prepared for what she actually found. She walked into a very large and luxuries hideout. It was fully carpeted, and furnished to the rim with rare art replicas. The construction of this room was obviously Italian in nature; it nearly reminded her of the inside of the Vatican. To her right was a giant library, to her left was an office, and straight ahead were some steps that lead to a giant pool. Though this hideout was very classic in nature, it also sported some very top-of-the-line technology with a drop down LCD screen.

If she was a betting woman, she would guess that this was where Metallo was hiding, though she doubted that this was his doing. This layout had Lex Luthor all over it. As she entered the office area, her guess was proven right when she found a nameplate on the desk which said, '_Lex Luthor: President of the United States_'.

"Wow, that's a frightening thought."

"How the hell did you find this place!" An unexpected voice came from behind her

Startled, she dropped the name plate and spun around. Fear swept over her when she saw Metallo standing at the doorway. "John, I thought you were dead!"

"I've told you that my name is now Metallo!" he growled.

"How did you survive? I saw the fight between you and Superman."

"Yes, I survived, no thanks to that freak!" He muttered, turning away from her to head towards the library portion. "Now leave me alone."

She was shocked that he was going to just let her leave. The moment she saw him, she was certain that she was going to be used once again to draw Superman to her, or even kill her. "You're letting me leave? Am I missing something?"

"Yes, I am letting you go. I have no quarrels with you, Lois. Just leave me alone."

Lois cautiously stepped towards the exit, expecting this to be some sort of trap. When she made it all the way to the doorway, she realized that he was really letting her leave. When she realized that, she began to feel compassion for him. Perhaps there was a part of him that was still human. He may have been a jerk before, but no one deserved what had happened to him.

When compassion took over, that was when she made a decision that she had not expected to make. She let out a sigh, not believing what she was about to do. "Listen, I think you deserve to know the truth. I've been doing some investigation. Do you know Professor Vale?"

Metallo spun around violently towards her. There was a renewed hate beaming from his eyes. That told her everything she needed to know. This was her confirmation that her theory was accurate. He did not say anything, but his intense gaze towards her told her that she had better finish what she had started to say quickly. "I've learned that Lex Luthor is highly invested into his robotic engineering research."

"Luthor did this to me?" His anger began to rise. "Lex Luthor did this to me?"

"I-I don't know for certain," Lois responded. "John, just don't do anything stupid. This is hardly evidence that Lex had a hand in what happened to you."

Metallo turned his back towards her. Lois took that to be her queue to leave; and that was what she was going to do. As she quietly made her way out, Metallo called out to her. "Lois!"

Nervously, she turned around, and once more expected the worse for herself. Instead, Metallo never even turned around to face her. "I suppose it is only fair if I return the good will that you have shown me. That freak that is flying around up there is not the real Superman."

"Wh-what do you mean?"

"I exposed him to his one and only weakness, Kryptonite; but instead of hurting him, it made him even stronger. His skin is turning right, and his demeanor is completely screwed up. That Superman up there is nothing more than a copy of the real Superman."

"A Clone?" It made perfect sense. This would explain Dr. Donnovan's role in all of this. It would be right up Luthor's alley to try to get rid of the real Superman and make one that will serve him. She could not believe that she had not considered this before.

"Knowing Luthor, I would stake my life on it. Now leave."

Lois was more than willing to do so. If this was true, it was highly likely that Luthor had Superman imprisoned somewhere. If there was any hope of him still being alive, they had to do whatever it took to save him. She had to find the Inspector Lieutenant immediately."

When Metallo was certain that she was gone, his rage began to bubble up once more. He was certain that Luthor did this to him as punishment for the many years of bullying he had gone through under him. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. "Lex Luthor, you're a dead man!"

* * *

Lex Luthor had no choice in the matter; he could feel his life coming apart at the seams. He had to hold this press conference to denounce his clone's actions. His instability threatened to ruin him, and that was not acceptable. He had to separate himself from Superman, but if he was careful enough, he could still possibly come out of this unscathed. And if he could do that, things would return to the way they were before Superman. First thing was first; he had to help assure his clone's destruction.

The time had come to make his announcement before the cameras. There was a growing wide-spread hatred for Superman, and he had to address that hatred and make sure it did not reverberate onto him. He walked around the curtain and up to the podium. In front of him was a flood of anxious reporters flashing pictures of him and stick video cameras in his face. "I have called for this press conference to answer the recent actions of Superman. This will be short, to the point, and I will NOT be taking any questions."

He allowed that to sink in before he continued. "As CEO and founder of Lexcorp, I condemn the actions of Superman to the highest degree. As of this moment, Superman is no longer part of this corporation. Lexcorp will provide any assistance needed to bring Superman to justice for his horrific crimes. We are deeply sorrowful over the lives who have been lost in the recent tragedy. I want to send out my prayers to those families that have lost loved ones. Superman must be made to pay for every single life his actions has taken away. Thank you."

As promised, this announcement was short and directly to the point. The moment he walked behind the curtain, Mercy was there by his side. "Very well done, sir. I think the media will all swing your way with favorable reviews."

"I am not out of the woods yet. Until the clone is destroyed, I am, very much, still in danger of having everything collapse around me. I am very fortunate that the clone did his job by destroying Metallo."

The two of them entered the elevator, and made their way all the way up to Lex's office. As the elevator made it's way up, Mercy updated him with further information that she had received during the conference. "General Lane is now entering Metropolis with a large ground force which also includes tanks. They will be hunkering down in preparation to take on the clone."

"Excellent. Contact the General, and tell him that we will supply him with all fire power he wants."

"Right away."

The elevator doors slid open, and the two of them entered his office. They marched down towards the end of the office; Mercy headed for a window to get better cell phone reception, while Lex went to his desk. When he reached his desk, a rude surprise awaited him in his chair. "Nice speech, Luthor; but maybe the time to back stab your creation may be a little too early." Metallo said, twirling around the chair to face him.

Mercy gasped, and went to dial 911 with her cell phone when he turned his head to look towards her. "Drop the phone or I drop you out of this tower." Mercy did as instructed; she was incapable of hiding her terror.

"What business can you possibly have here?" Lex asked with a raised brow. If he was fearful for his life, he did not show it. It was the typical Luthor demeanor that was instilled into him by his father.

Metallo stood from the chair. "Did you really think that you were smart enough to think you can hide the truth from me? You are responsible for my 'accident'. You did this to me!"

"I think you have me confused with someone else?" Lex responded, refusing to allow him to confirm his theory. There was no way he could know the truth for certain, but then again, Metallo did not care about solid evidence. He was anything but a rational man.

Metallo laughed mockingly at Luthor. The man was absolutely pitiful. He could read it in his eyes, that his world was shattering before him. The billionaire was too proud to admit defeat. "I know you too well, Luthor. You can't dismiss me just like that."

Metallo slowly stepped towards Lex, and that was when the fear finally showed on his face. "Now wait just a minute!"

"No, I really don't think I will."

The building shook suddenly, confusing everyone in the office. Their confusion was quickly resolved when a part of the ceiling began to collapse. The clone hovered down the newly created hole, with his arms folded in front of him. His entire face and hands were completely white now and his eyes were now as red as blood. He also had a slight hunch in his posture, as if he was growing a hump on his back. "Luthor! Why are you being mean to Superman? Superman is furious with you!"

The clone was deteriorating at a quicker pace now. His intelligence level had dropped at a phenomenal rate. This only confirmed that his cloning experiment had failed. However, there was an upside to it right at this second. Perhaps he could confuse the clone enough to have him deal with Metallo, and not himself. "Superman, we can talk about this, but first, I need you to kill Metallo!"

The clone looked at Metallo and then back at Lex, trying to figure out what he should do. "Don't listen to this piece of filth, Superman," Metallo countered. "He uses you only when it benefits himself. Afterwards, he discards you like trash. He's the one that deserves to die."

His comment did nothing to make his mind up. The clone was still fighting through his metal block to decide who to deal with first. Waiting for him to make up his mind, Metallo reverted to his old self. "Are you stupid? Don't you see what he did to you?"

The clone gazed towards him with hatred in his eyes. That was when Metallo realized what he had just done. "Oh crap, I probably shouldn't have said that."

Though his appearance and mental capacity were greatly diminished, his powers were not. The clone zipped towards him in a blur, delivering a powerful uppercut which he had no way of preventing. The impact sent him all the way across the room and into the wall. The wall cracked upon impact, but remained intact.

The clone stormed towards Metallo, full of anger and hatred. This was Lex's time to escape. He turned to face Mercy, but she was long gone. "That little tramp!"

* * *

It was not an easy decision to make, but she had to do it. Lex had made such a mistake with the clone that it was going to cost him his life. As much as she liked him, he was not worth risking her life for; and besides, he had already rejected her advances. There was no point going down with a man who had continuously rejected her. His fate was his own doing.

Running from the elevator, the limousine was waiting for her right outside the spinning doors. She wasted no time getting into the limousine and closing the door behind her. "Go!"

* * *

Mercy Graves had abandoned him and left him to die. After so many years of faithful service, how could she just leave him like this? He decided that he would have to deal with her at a later time. The first order of business was to get out of the tower alive and get to his hideout underneath Metropolis.

The clone was still fully focused on decimating Metallo, which provided him the chance to escape. He opened up one of his drawers and pulled out a remote. After typing in a four digit number code, he pressed enter, and a hidden door became visible on the far left wall. He was careful not to draw attention to himself as he made his escape.

Metallo was again on the receiving end of a brutal beating. Despite his deteriorating condition, the clone was just too strong for him. Metallo was on his back, still fighting to regain his senses after another powerful chokeslam onto the floor. "Superman kill metal man now!"

The clone bent over him and began to pull at his chest plate Metallo screamed. There was nothing he could do to defend himself. He wrestled with the clone to the best of his ability, but he was just too strong.

The clone successfully uncovered Metallo's Kryptonite heart. Without any hesitation, he reached in and grabbed the Kryptonite. With one violent pull, he ripped it out of Metallo's chest. The Kryptonite instantly worked it's magic on the clone, as he was now able to stand up straight; however, that was the extent of healing that the Kryptonite would temporarily provide for him. The radiation from the Earth's sun was too much for this little piece of meteor rock. Metallo crushed it in his hand until there was nothing left but glowing greed powder.

Metallo's systems were on a fritz. He could feel his power draining at a significant rate. He knew that he had minutes, at best, before deactivation. He had to find another Kryptonite rock right away, but that was near impossible with the mood of the clone that was standing over him. He was out for his blood.

The clone grabbed Metallo once more and hoisted him up over his head. He let out a violent roar as he threw him through the wall with all of his strength. Metallo went through two, very thick, cement walls before he landed with the sound of scraping metal upon rock.

Ready to do more damage, the clone took a step closer to the giant hole, but a voice came from outside called out to him using a megaphone. "Superman, this is General Lane of the United States Army. Surrender yourself immediately, or be destroyed."

His teeth clenched with fury. "More bad men! Superman will kill bad men!" The clone made his way to the window.

* * *

Metallo found himself in a very dimly lit room. His power was waning fast; time was running out. With his systems on the fritz, he found it difficult to control his extremities. Focusing his vision as best as he could, he could swear that the room had a very familiar greenish tint to it.

He sat up and looked around at his surroundings. He appeared to be in some kind of dungeon, but that was not the most startling thing. Chained up to the wall was the real Superman. The man was at the verge of death; his body was gray and frail. He barely had the strength to look up towards him.

Across the room, displayed on a stone shelf was another rock of Kryptonite. That was exactly what he needed, but it was also the only thing that was keeping Superman contained. He could debate all he wanted, but without that Kryptonite, he was as good as dead.

Metallo crawled towards the meteor rock, feeling time running out for himself. If he could just reach that Kryptonite and put it in his chest, He could then quickly kill Superman, and go find Luthor once more.

With each crawl he took, his vision became more and more staticy. It was Like a television station slowly loosing signal. He reached up for the Kryptonite, fighting his own body, which was powering down. With one last effort, he pushed himself as hard as he could, and his fingers wrapped around the glowing rock.

He let out a sigh as he collapsed down and rolled himself onto his back. With the Kryptonite in hand, he had just enough strength to place it into his chest. He jammed it in and closed the chest plate. Strength instantly began to flow through him. New life was breathed into him, and he was ready again to take on the world.

The sound of rattling chains followed by a loud crash caused a bad feeling to hit Metallo in the pit of his stomach. Sitting up, he confirmed his worst fear. The chains that bound Superman were shattered and a newly formed hole was directly over where the hero used to be. "Crap!"

* * *

Feeling the fresh air at long last, Superman shot out of Lexcorp tower like a speeding bullet, racing up to the planet's upper atmosphere. He had no idea how long he had been imprisoned, but it felt like an eternity. He could feel life slowly entering his body once again, but he was still far from alright. He need to spend some extended time to recover from the prolonged exposure of the Kryptonite. He had been lucky that the Kryptonite had not more saturated from Krypton's red sun radiation. Anymore, and he would have been dead long ago.

He took a deep breath and flew just out of the planet's atmosphere. With zero gravity, he allowed himself to float in space as he soaked in sun's radiation. Having regained enough strength to hold his breath for a long period of time, he could afford himself the time to heal from his ordeal, in space.


	31. Metropolis in Peril

**Chapter 31: Metropolis in Peril**

The clone flew out of Lexcorp tower only to find army tanks strolling down the street. All of their cannons were raised and pointing directly at him. The sight was almost hysterical to behold. Did these people actually think that they could take him down with these primitive weapons?

"I repeat, surrender yourself immediately, or you will be destroyed." General Lane's voice amplified up to him from somewhere among the eight tanks.

"Superman protects this city. You go away!"

General Lane looked over to one of his men standing next to him. "Did he take some kind of stupid pill this morning?" The soldier shrugged, knowing not to answer the rhetorical question.

The general had hoped against all hope to end this peacefully, but deep down inside, he knew that this was going to end badly. People were already evacuating the buildings near Lexcorp tower. The city was put on full alert; they were encouraged to take shelter immediately. Hopefully the warning had gone out in time, because things were about to get explosive.

General Lane brought his hand held radio up to his mouth. "Do it."

On the rooftop of Lexcop tower, a young corporal had his shoulder-launched rocket launcher pointed and locked-in on Superman. He had been waiting for the word from General Lane over his hand held radio, which had just been given. Without hesitation, the corporal pulled the trigger, and the rocket whooshed from the launch tube. The Missile left a cloud trail in it's wake as it raced towards it's target.

The clone turned to look at the oncoming rocket, and allowed it to hit him. Upon impact, a six-foot fireball engulfed the clone for a brief second before evaporating, leaving him completely unharmed. Automatic machine gun fire followed the rocket attack, coming from two army soldiers on two separate rooftops. The bullets only bounced off of his body.

The clone focused his eyes on the machine gun in the hands of the soldier on the rooftop to his right. He fired two heat beams right onto the barrel of the gun. The gun quickly became too hot for handle, forcing the soldier to drop it. With the barrel of the gun melted, the gun was more than dealt with; it was useless. The clone looked to the gun on his other side and did the exact same thing.

One of the tanks on the ground let out a giant explosion, having fired it's canon. The blast impacted him with such force that it threw him into the letter 'L' of the Lexcorp sign on the rooftop of Lexcorp tower. His collision caused sparks to fly from the giant neon-light letter.

After pushing himself free from the neon light, he brushed himself off. "Superman will play rough now!"

* * *

When Lois Lane informed him of everything she had learned, Turpin grabbed Sawyer and group of MPD officers and stormed Lexcorp tower. Despite the danger of everything going on outside, Tuprin was not going to pass this opportunity. They had finally nailed Luthor for some major crimes that would put him away for life. Perhaps they could get some closure in trying to find Clark Kent, Superman, or both.

Everyone be very careful. There is a lot of gun fire and rockets going off right outside. I doubt Luthor is still here, but we'll worry about him afterwards."

Everyone agreed, as they prepared their weapons for whatever awaited them once the elevator reached Luthor's office. When the elevator stopped and the bell chimed, everyone pointed their weapons forward. When the door split apart, they found a warzone waiting for them. Half the windows were shattered and debris from the ceiling was scatted across the floor.

Turpin and Sawyer led the way into the office. With their senses on full alert, they began to search the room. The sounds of explosions and gunshots from outside reverberated into the office.

"Dan, look at this!" Sawyer called out. Dan turned to see her looking through a giant hole in the wall.

He could tell that the hole was not made by the events going on outside. This looked like the act of a super powered fight. The closer he got to the hole, the more he became certain that he did not need his gun. If this was done by the Superman Doppelganger, or by Metallo, for that matter, his gun would do next to nothing to protect him. His instincts, however, would not allow him to put his weapon away just yet.

He followed the captain through the hole, only to find a room that resembled a dungeon from the medieval times. With the chains connecting to the wall, there were some clear cut signs that the dungeon was recently habited. "Kinky," Turpin muttered.

"Look up," Sawyer replied, looking up through a hole in the ceiling that went all the way to the sky. "Someone was kept in here, but was it Superman or Clark Kent?

The building shook and the lights flickered. The battle outside was picking up, and being in that tower was now a very bad idea. "Put out an APB for Lex Luthor, and let's get out of here before this building comes down on us. We don't have the time to dust for finger prints right now."

"I hear that!" Sawyer replied, more than happy to leave.

* * *

The clone dived from the sky, dodging another blast from one of the tanks. He swooped under the cannon of the tank that had just fired that last shot at him, and bent the barrel upward. The ground forces wasted no time unleashing all everything they had at him. They showered him with their automatic weapons.

The clone stepped away from the tank, only to have the bullets follow him. He clenched his hands together over his head, forming one giant fist. He swung his clenched hands down, pounding the ground with his super strength and leaving a huge dent in the middle of the street. The ground shook with such ferocity; all the soldiers on the block fell off their feet.

The tank behind the one with the destroyed canon had taken advantage of the few seconds the ground forced provided to aim it's cannon at the clone. It unleashed it's wrath upon clone, but he had already seen it coming. With super speed, he threw a perfectly timed right hook to punch the shell directly in front of him. It exploded just a couple of feet in front him. He quickly retaliated by melting the barrel of the cannon with his heat beams.

"This is not getting us anywhere," General Lane muttered. He raised his hand held radio to his mouth. "Send in the fighters!"

When the clone saw the soldiers back away, the first thing that came across his mind was that they had given up. They finally realized that he could be destroyed by their primitive weapons. He floated slowly upward, where he could feel superior over all of Metropolis. This was _his_ city to protect, and no one else's.

As he looked down at the insects that was scattered throughout the megacity, his super hearing detected two jet fighters approaching. Up ahead, he spotted two F-22 Raptors quickly approaching. It appeared that the military had not given up as easily as he had supposed. At least they were now coming at him with something he could have a little more fun with.

One of the jet fighters fired a missile at him, and the clone could only chuckle. It was time that the military paid a price for their defiance. He looked up at the sun, feeling it's radiation draining his life. He had to deal with this nagging problem, but first he had two jet fighters that he had to deal with. In a blur, he took flight. He flew as fast and as hard as he could.

He did some zig zags in the air, and the missile repeated his pattern; The missile was tracking his heat signature. The clone flew closer to the ground until he was flying between the skyscrapers. He zig zagged around building after building. The missile did not miss a zag, as it weaved through the buildings. He finally found a nice tall tower and flew right through the building. The heat seeking missile followed him into the building, causing a giant explosion that engulfed the entire top floor.

"No, no, no, no, no!" General Lane screamed. That was a horrendous blunder that could have been avoided. The jet fighters turned out to be the worst idea yet. He should have known seen this kind of scenario as a possible outcome. "Pull back the fighters. They are only going to cause me more headaches. Get the sonic gun ready; we should have tried that in the first place."

The two jet fighters flew over Metropolis when they received the orders to return to base, but before either of them could make a move, two heat red beams came firing up from somewhere in the city, causing one of the fighters to explode.

"Damn it, get the hell out of there!" General Lane screamed. Those jets were not cheap; that was almost one hundred and forty million dollars up in smoke. Another one hundred and forty was in serious jeopardy.

The last Raptor peeled off quickly and raced as fast as it could away from Metropolis. Following behind was the clone, not willing to let the jet escape. Going faster than mach one, the clone continued to creep up. The pilot pushed the jet all the way to mach two, desperately hoping to outrun him.

"Fire the sonic gun!" General Lane ordered, watching the chase through his binoculars.

The clone could feel the heat from the jet's engines on his face. His fingers were inches from grabbing hold of the engine when an invisible shockwave with an ear-piercing, high-pitched tone hit him like a ton of bricks. He was caught in the shockwave, unable to move. The tone was piercing his ear drums and pinching his brain, and it was excruciating painful. He covered his ears, but that brought no relief at all.

Angrily, he looked down to see the sonic gun on the rooftop of one of the towers below him. Putting his full force into it, he fired his heat beams down at the giant weapon. It did not take much to cause the weapon to short circuit, and when it did, the invisible shockwave disappeared.

That attack had done more harm to him than it should have. His deteriorating condition due to the sun was becoming too much of a hindrance. Now was the time to deal with it. From behind his yellow belt, he pulled out a remote control and pressed the red button. Off from one of the rooftops in the heart of Metropolis, a missile was launched and shot straight up into the sky.

"I did not give any orders to launch another missile!" General Lane scalded. He could hardly believe that one of his men would take such a liberty on his own shoulders. They had already done enough damage to this city.

"Sir, I don't believe that is one of our missiles."

The clone watched with great anticipation as the weather manipulation missile continued upward into the sky. At six thousand feet, the rocket exploded, unleash a light colored mist. At first, the mist seemed to evaporate, but soon, dark, stormy clouds began to form at an accelerated rate. Thunder roared as the Nimbostratus cloud expanded exponentially until all of Metropolis was shadowed by this unnatural storm. Lightning streaked across the sky as it continued to pick up steam.


	32. Superman Returns

**Chapter 32: Superman Returns**

Coming to work today, Chuck had no idea of the chaos that the day would be. Working at the National Weather Service in Wichita, he was expecting a very uninteresting day. Today was supposed to be nothing but sunshine and warn temperatures for the entire state. As his shift began, that's exactly how the day had started. Things changed so quickly, that he almost missed it. "What the hell?"

"See something, Chuck!" His friend, Paul, asked noticing the distress of his friend from his desk.

"Take a look at this!" He pointed to the map of Kansas on his monitor. It was a black screen with a white outline of the state of Arkansas and all the counties in the state. Each county had one or two numbers over them, and all of them were positive numbers except for one. The number over Metropolis was at a negative five. "Look at the negative lifted index over Metropolis."

Among all the positive numbers, Paul had to admit that a negative five was very unusual. Even stranger was how fast the lifted index number was dropping. It had dropped down to a negative seven within a minute. Another minute of watching and it dropped to negative nine.

"I have never seen the lifted index drop so fast in my life. It has to be a computer glitch," Chuck commented.

Paul was not buying it, no matter how unusual the situation was. "Something is causing the atmosphere over Metropolis to become very unstable. Pull up images from the Doppler radar."

With a few swift keystrokes on the keyboard, he pulled up a radar the displayed a color-coded, cloud coverage over all of Kansas. There was a huge red blob over Metropolis, which faded into green on the outskirts. "It's a super cell, but how? Storms don't form over land; not like this."

"Not only that, but the storm is growing is magnitude," Chuck pointed at a tiny purple speck in the very heart of the storm cell. "I have no idea what's feeding it."

"Do we have any spotters in the area to confirm what we are seeing?" Paul asked, looking over at his friend.

"Are you kidding me? The forecast called for clear skies today."

"Should we consider issuing warnings for Metropolis?"

Chuck had no idea what to do. It was, already, too late for a warning to prove useful. By the time it was issued, massive damage and casualties would be skyrocketing. Even worse, they had no eyes on the ground to prove the validity of what they were seeing. This storm flew against everything they knew about storms. Either their equipment was faulty or this storm was not a natural occurring event.

* * *

Frequent streaks of lightning flashed all around Metropolis. Explosions of thunder rocked the mega city as the storm intensified. The skyscraper rocked in the wind as if they were nothing more than trees. The wind had picked up so quickly, that General Lane had no time to take shelter. The wind toppled the aged military general unto the ground. Two soldiers had to help him up onto his feet and into the jeep. "What in blazes is going on?"

On the very edge of Metropolis, the wind had already begun damaging the building. Shards of glass and debris swirled through the streets, sending deadly sharp shrapnel in all directions. People in the streets were running for their lives, abandoning their vehicles in the streets. The clouds circled in the air and slowly descended, forming a funnel. The gray funnel continued to lower to the ground until it became a full, fledged tornado.

The twisted landed in the middle of the street, tearing the towers on both sides to shreds. All vehicles in its path were sucked into its funnel, and thrown in every direction. Many were thrown through the sides of buildings, causing even further damage.

* * *

Lois Lane fought against the wind to find safety. Her original destination was to reach her father and tell him about Lex Luthor and the clone. She had just barely reached the tanks before the wind had become too strong. She saw her father being brought into a military jeep at the very end of the duel rows of tanks.

She pushed her way into the lobby of one of the business towers on the street. She pushed through the osculating door to find a large crowd gathering in the lobby. Among the crowd was Alfonso, who was the mail clerk for the Daily Planet. The man still knew very little English, but that did not stop him from coming to her. He appeared happy to see someone he recognized. "É o fim do mundo lá fora!"

"Miss Lane!" Jimmy called out, pushing his way through the crowd to get to Lois.

"Jimmy, you're here too?"

"You bet I am. I wasn't going to miss out getting some close-up shots of all the action."

Why did it surprise her that he would take such a reckless risk with his life? She had taught him a lot of things since the boy came to the Daily Planet. It should not have come to any surprise that he would have picked up her desire to be the best in the business. To be the best, you had to take risks.

She walked towards a window and saw the wind continue to pick up intensity. This storm was not natural; It reeked of Luthor's stench. She could only assume that Lex invented something to manipulate the weather, and the clone had gotten his hands on it. "Where are you, Superman? The world needs you."

* * *

An elderly lady was in the middle of the street, looking out at the tornado three blocks down. Everyone had filed out of the stores, homes, and their vehicles to standing outside to behold this event that many had never seen before: a tornado in a mega city. No one could believe that a twister could ever strike in a large city, so no one knew what to do. The warning siren sounded, off in the distance, and that was when the shock started to wear off of some of the onlookers. People began to run past the old woman.

She did not seem to be greatly concerned for her safety. She remained frozen where she stood, staring out at the growing funnel. A compact Sudan was caught in the grips of the tornado, and after a couple of cycles, the twister released its grip on it and tossed it right at her.

The woman had no chance of getting out of the way. The car was coming at her like a bullet. She could only raise her hands in front of her face and look away. She waited for death to take her, but it never came. She cautiously opened her eyes to see a tall man standing in front of her with a red cape flapping in front of her.

He carefully placed the car down onto its wheels. He turned around, to reveal a warm, friendly human face. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

"Superman, you saved me!"

"Huh, yes. I am afraid that I have been poorly represented over the past week. That is a situation I am about to rectify. Now, go to safety; it is not safe outside."

Superman took to the sky towards the growing tornado. The elderly lady watched as a young couple, who had seen the rescue, came to her aid. "Can we help you to safety?"

"Oh dear, thank you so much, and please, call me Granny. Granny Goodness. Everyone else does." Before accepting the young couple's help, she grabbed one final glance towards the direction Superman had flown. "He's back," she murmured underneath her breath with a smirk on her face.

* * *

Superman flew towards the very top of the tornado. The wind was extremely violent at this altitude, but it was nothing that he could not handle. He flew against the wind and began to do laps around the spinning funnel. He flew faster and faster until he looked like a red and blue ring surrounding the twister. Doing hundreds of laps per second around it, it did not take very long before it began to shrink in size. He pressed on as hard as he could until the circular motion in the cloud ceased, and the funnel evaporated.

Superman stopped his laps, and hovered in place for a few seconds. With his super hearing, he could hear the debate already starting among the people. "Superman saved us!"

"Superman is a murderer, why would he save us?"

"The Superman with the white skin killed those people; this Superman does not have white skin."

"Perhaps he was sick, and now he's well again?"

Superman's attention was distracted by the loud crashing of thunder. A lightning bolt nearly hit him. Looking at the clouds, he could see that the storm was getting ready to produce three more tornadoes throughout the city. He had to diminish this storm quickly or Metropolis would be lost.

**

* * *

**With the storm gaining strength, so was the clone. He could feel his strength surging in his body. While the people of Metropolis were taking shelter from the storm, the clone enjoyed the heavy winds and the cloud cover. He looked out towards the edge of the city when he noticed that the tornado, which had touched down moments ago, was missing.

"What?" He flew up higher above the city, avoiding a bolt of lightning in the process.

When he stopped, he knew exactly what had just happened. Flying at him like a red and blue blur was Superman with his right fist stretched out in front of him. The clone had no time to react; Superman's fist exploded across his face, causing him to fall to the city.

He was like a meteor crashing onto the Earth's surface. He came crashing down the center of a street, leaving a crater trail in his wake. An oncoming black SUV had no way of getting out of the way, and it collided head on with the clone. The impact caused the SUV to forward flip in the air only to land in the crater trail on the roof. The next several cars had more warning time, and were able to swerve around him, but only to crash into the sides of skyscrapers. The clone finally came to a stop after leaving a two block crater trail down the center of a one-way street.

With the clone temporarily out of the picture, Superman had a very short opportunity to deal with this storm. He knew enough about whether to know that storms are formed when warm air rises, and cools in the process. When the air is cooled, it condenses and forms cumulonimbus, or storm, clouds. In order to make this storm lose its strength, he needed to re-warm the parcels of air, and he calculated that he needed to do it at about five thousand meters.

Superman flew up towards the storm, estimating that the clouds were about seven thousand meters up. He stopped about two thousand meters from the clouds and pulled out a special crystal which he had gotten from the Fortress of Solitude. He raised it over his head, and fired heat beams, from his eyes, into the crystal. Putting as much force as he dared at the crystal without shattering it, the crystal absorbed the heat and began to glow red. As the crystal reached its maximum build-up of heat, it released a giant red beam which turned the entire sky over Metropolis red.

The crystal amplified his heat beams to begin warming up the atmosphere. The crystal would not last long enough to, completely, disintegrate the storm, but he estimated that it would be enough to stabilize the atmosphere, and turn this massive super cell into nothing more than a passing rainstorm.

* * *

"Hey Paul, take a look at this!" Chuck called his friend back over.

"What's happening now?" Paul asked, running up to his desk, while putting the caller on his cell phone on hold.

"You're not going to believe this, but the atmosphere over Metropolis is stabilizing. The lifted index is now at a negative five, and climbing."

"There has to be a malfunction with our equipment somewhere. No storm can come and go this quickly!"

Chuck had no answer to what was happening; for all he knew, Paul was right. It was the only logical explanation he could come up with. If this was an equipment malfunction, he was going to be in a lot of hot water for sending out the warnings.

* * *

The crystal could no longer handle the heat, and it shattered in his hands. Superman had assumed this was going to happen. A single flash of lightning lit up the sky as the dark clouds opened up and unleashed a torrential rain fall down upon Metropolis. Just by the looks of the clouds, Superman knew that his plan had worked. The clouds were lighter, and all the circular rotations in the clouds were gone. The storm had become a mild thunderstorm. He looked down upon the city and inspected it for immediate dangers.

The wind had died down quickly, making it safe to be outside once again. Lois was the first one out the door, and was followed by Jimmy and Alfonso. The rain quickly soaked everyone down to the bone, but none of them cared. They all saw the clone take a powerful blow which had sent him sailing somewhere deep inside of Metropolis. "What do you think that was? Who could have done that to Superman?"

"Jimmy, the white skinned Superman is nothing more than a clone created by Lex Luthor."

"A clone? Then you think that…"

"I think he's back!" Lois replied, looking up to the sky. He was too far up in the sky for her to know for certain, but her heart was convinced of it.

"Look out!" Someone from among the crowd cried out, breaking Lois's focus on searching for the hero.

Looking straight up over her head, a giant letter 'P' was falling directly towards her. The wind had damaged the Daily Planet globe on top of the building, and the letter 'P' had been ripped off of the globe.

Being surrounded by people and the tanks in the street, she could not move out of its way. She was prepared for the worse, but with a blink of an eye, Superman was flying overhead with the letter caught in his two hands.

As he hovered slowly down to the ground, there was a mixed reaction from the people. There were some claps of appreciation, but there was more of a reaction of confusion. People were yet to learn the truth about Superman, and the clone. It was going to take time to convince the people about what had transpired here.

The people spread out, making room for Superman to land and to put the giant letter safely onto the ground. He turned around to face Lois who was, herself, very cautious in approaching him. "Is that really you? I mean, really, really you?"

"It is really me, Lois," he replied in the warm, gentle voice that she remembered.

"How can I be sure you're not another clone?"

Superman took her by the hand and pulled her closer to him until their bodies were touching. Looking up into his blue eyes, she was mesmerized by his gaze. In his arms, she felt safe and secure. "Lois, it's really me."

If his holding her was not enough to convince her, he took it a step further. He bowed his head lower. She closed her eyes as their lips met. She allowed herself to melt in the passion of his kiss, as she lifted her left leg.


	33. Battle With Bizarro

**Chapter 33: Battle with Bizarro**

"Okay, I'm convinced," Lois said when the kiss ended.

Superman smiled at his with caring eyes that had a knack of melting her strong headed personality. The passionate kiss took both of their minds away from the pouring rain and the danger that was coming. When the kiss ended, the realization of the threat that the clone represented, came rushing back into his memory. "If you will excuse me, I have a mess to clean up."

"You hold it right there, Superman!" General Lane screamed as he pushed through the crowd to get to them. He had five of his army men with him; each of them had a fully automatic machine gun in hand. "I am taking you in for crimes against humanity."

"Dad, you have it all wrong; we had it all wrong. Superman is not the one responsible for all the devastation."

"Step aside, Lois," General Lane said to his daughter. "You really expect me to believe that there is another man in blue and red tights, with superhuman strength, flying around out there?"

"It's all true," Turpin confirmed, pushing his way through the crowd that had surrounded Superman and Lois. "We have evidence that Lex Luthor has created an illegal clone of Superman. We also believe that he had a direct role in creating Metallo. In my book, that's conspiracy to committee murder, murder one, and hundreds of accounts of manslaughter. Consider the book thrown at Lex Luthor."

"It can't be," General Lane posture changed drastically. He had defended Luthor to the very end, and now everything that his daughter and Lieutenant Inspector Turner had accused him of was all true. He was the one that made the deal with Lexcorp; this was not going to look good to his superiors.

"The clone you were fighting has white skin. Look at Superman; his skin is pale. Can't you see the difference?" Lois pleaded.

The General Lane was clearly not happy. He had thought that he had Superman right where he wanted him, but now he saw his opportunity dissolve before his very eyes. He had the perfect opportunity to get rid of Superman. Superman had repeatedly refused to work with the military or sign an anti-vigilante registration bill. Because of his refusal, General Lane was more than happy to rid the world of such a dangerous weapon. Now, the opportunity had evaporated.

Adding insult to injury, he had yet found a weakness in the man he had assumed was the real Superman. All of his attempts to bring him down had only caused more devastation. So not only did he have to put goal to register Superman on hold, he had to humble himself and accept Superman's help to do something that he could not. "I will call off my men, but I will not leave Metropolis until you have cleaned up your mess and deal with this clone and this Metallo character."

"I will deal with them," Superman agreed.

"Don't think this is over between us, Superman," General Lane growled. "I will support any legislation that forces you to register with the United States of America. No man is above the law; not even you."

"General, I think it is for the best that we save this debate for another time." Superman said, starting to get a little antsy. The clone was on his way back, and he had to get into the air to make sure the fight was taken away from the people.

The General was not stupid; he knew that Superman could hear the clone coming and was anxious to take the fight above the city. In a way, he respected him for it. He would make a great military leader one day, if only he could get him to cooperate. "Go!"

With a nod of respect, Superman took to the air in the pouring rain with an occasional crack of thunder echoing through the streets of Metropolis. Superman flew up just past the height of the tallest building in the city. The clone met him up there as the two of them hovered over the city with their arms folded in front of them.

The clone appeared to be confused by his appearance. He appeared unaware that he even existed. "You no Superman; me am Superman!"

Watching from the ground, Alfonso sneaked up between Lois, Turpin, and Jimmy. "Isso é muito bizarro."

Lois did not understand him, and she turned to him and shrugged to let him know that she could not understand him. "I'm sorry, I don't speak Portuguese."

Alfonso waved up a finger and then pulled out a pocket sized translation dictionary. After flipping through the book, he handed it to her and pointed to the word. "Bizarro, muito bizarro."

The word he pointed to was the word Bizarre in English. "Bizarro."

"não, não, não, bizarro," he said, emphasizing the correct pronunciation of the word.

She knew that she enunciated the Portuguese word wrong, but the way she pronounced it stuck to her. Young teenage girls during her high school days quite often used the word '_bizarro_' as a slang word. "Superman versus Bizarro!" That name fit perfectly for the clone. He was the exact opposite of Superman.

"What's that, Miss Lane?" Jimmy asked.

"Superman versus Bizarro! That will be the front page headline."

"You're calling the clone Bizarro?" Jimmy raised an eyebrow.

"Yes I am."

Above the city, while contemplating on what to make of Superman, he overheard the conversation with his super hearing. "Bizarro? Me am not Bizarro; Me am Superman!"

Superman had heard Lois as well, and he found it curious that he knew that she was talking about him. He allowed the clone to contemplate the issue, hoping that somehow this could end without further violence.

The clone could not shake her words; it haunted him to the very core of his being. Here in front of him was another Superman; however, his skin was not turning white like his. The sun was an alley to this new Superman; not his enemy. He looked down at the back of his hands at the white skin.

This was not normal. The realization dawn on him like a flash of lightning; he was not the true superman, after all. He was a defective copy of the real thing. He was a fraud, a fake, and a clone. Indeed, he was bizarre. "Bizarro? Me am Bizarro. Me am Bizarro!" He screamed out in declaration. It was the name given to him, and perhaps it was as fitting as the female reporter thought.

Superman watched as the clone accepted his new name. Bizarro had finally accepted the truth that he was not the real Superman, and perhaps he would end this madness that he had started. "I am sorry, Bizarro. I hope you now see that things are not what they seem. Come with me, and I will take you to my Fortress of Solitude. There you can stay, free from the harmful radiation of Earth's Son."

The clone glowered at the suggestion. "Bizarro would not be ruler. Bizarro rules this city. Bizarro will not give up city!"

"You have no choice in the matter. I will not allow you to stay in this city. Either stay at the Fortress of Solitude in peace, or I will take you down. You have caused enough damage to Metropolis."

Bizarro was furious. He did not care if he was the real Superman or not, this was his city, and he was not going to allow anyone to steal it away from him. He let out an angry roar before zipping towards him in a speedy blur. He landed a series of left and right punched at various parts of the body. He ended the series with a hard uppercut under the jaw. The punch threw Superman through the rain a few meters.

Superman quickly recovered. He spread his arms apart as he hovered up a few feet. Now hovering diagonally above Bizarro, he clapped his hands together with such force, that an invisible shockwave emanated towards the clone. His clap was nearly as loud as the thunder, as the shockwave sent the clone spiraling back towards the city. Before he had the time to recover, he came crashing into a large neon sign on the rooftops of one of the towers. Sparks flew everywhere as the sign began to collapse.

The neon sign fell over the ledge and down the side of the building. Superman quickly took flight and sped to the falling remains. As it was about half way down, he had swooped underneath the sign and caught it by one of its anchor bars.

He commenced slowly floating downward to find a place to put the sign, when he felt the sign get pulled out of his hands. Bizarro lifted the sign over his head and cracked it on top of Superman's skull. He fell to the ground like a bullet coming out of the barrel. The impact he made hitting ground left a giant hole in the ground. For a brief second, the ground shook as if an earthquake had struck the block. The people, who were braving the downpour to watch the fight, scattered like cockroaches to try to find safety.

Bizarro took satisfaction in his attack as he threw the neon sign through the side of a nearby tower just for the enjoyment of causing damage. This was his city, and if he wanted to destroy a building, it was his right to do so. If it also served to infuriate Superman, that was a major plus.

It did, in fact, enraged Superman, and he came soaring out of the hole in retaliation. With his fist already in position, when coming out of the hole, he timed his punch and delivered it swiftly. The momentum of his speed added to the strength of his punch, and the impact sent the clone straight up.

He was able to stop his ascent just as the air had begun to thin out. He looked down to see Superman coming up at him to continue to fight. Narrowing his eyes, he unleashed his heat beams at Superman's face; knowing full well that Superman was going to have to use his hands to block the attack. He put just enough strength into the heat beams to achieve what he had set out to do. Superman moved the palms of both hands in front of his face to catch the beams in his hands.

When the heat beam attack ceased, Superman moved his hands from his line of sight to see that Bizarro had moved. He was now angled right above him with his hands clamped together over his head. He brought down his clamed hands down upon his back, right between his shoulder blades and below his neck. The attack caused Superman to lean slightly forward. The clone used his super speed to zip around to the front where he delivered a powerful blow to his gut. This caused him to bend forward, even further.

Grabbing him by his black hair, Bizarro threw his face into his knee cap. Raising his right fist over his head, he was ready to come down on his face, hoping to continue to take advantage of the shock from his previous attacks, but Superman surprised him by catching his fist in the palm of his right hand. He used his other hand to grab him by the wrist and threw him around him and downward. Bizarro quickly recovered, but the throw was not meant to be very hard. What the hero followed up with, was where the hurt was to come in. He unleashed everything he had into his heat beams from his eyes. The impact of the heat beams upon the clone's chest pushed him quickly downward towards the rooftop of one of the towers. When he was about to crash into the rooftop, he ceased his heat beam attack, and allowed gravity to take over. Bizarro crashed through the rooftop and through several floors of the tower.

Slowly descending until he hovering between two towers, Superman used his x-ray vision to search the tower on his right, which was the tower that Bizarro had crashed into. He searched level after level for what the clone might have ceased his plunge.

At about the tenth level from the top, the clone came crashing through a window in a raging fit, with his hands stretched out for his neck. He pummeled into Superman, and pinned him up against the side of the opposite tower. He went to smash his face with a hard punch, but Superman tilted his head to avoid the fist. Instead, the fist dented the steel frame.

Thinking quickly, he took a deep breath, and exhaled a bitterly cold breath into the face of Bizarro. He promptly backed away from the stinging cold, giving Superman some needed space. He went to give the clone a right hook across the face, but he had recovered from the icy blow faster than Superman had anticipated. The clone caught his punch, and brought down his left elbow hard onto the back of his elbow.

Superman yelped, as that blow involuntarily caused his arm to loosen. That gave the clone momentary control, and he took full advantage of it. He spun him around two complete rotations before throwing the Man of Steel all the way down to the ground. He came crashing down on top of a minivan, which was sandwiched upon impact.

Bizarro came down upon Superman like a missile, landing on his chest with his feet. The impact completely cut the minivan in half. He was now standing on Superman's chest in a small crater in the road.

The clone stood on top of him with his arms folded in front of him. He took a moment to revel in the accomplishment he had just achieved; however, that proved to be a celebration that happened a little too early. Superman had grabbed the right half of what was left of the minivan, and used it to knock him off from on top of him.

A small crowd of people cautiously approached the battle zone, despite the danger. Right there among the crowd were Lois, Jimmy, General Lane, Turpin, and Sawyer; all of them were there for different reasons. Turpin and Sawyer were focusing on keeping the people safe. General Lane was watching and waiting to see if he and his battalion was going to be needed. Jimmy was obsessed in getting the best possible photos he could get, while Lois was there, more so, for personal reasons.

Superman and Bizarro stood across each other, in the middle of an intense stare-down. Superman could not allow this fight to continue. His hope was that Bizarro would come to realize, that he was dying, and the only way that he could survive was to come back to the Fortress of Solitude. He could see the clone breathing heavily, showing the first signs of wearing down. "Bizarro, you are beginning to wear down. I hope you can see that I can take this a lot longer than you can. This is the last time I will make this offer to you; come with me to the Fortress of Solitude, and you will be protected from the sun's radiation."

"Bizarro will not give up city! This city belongs to Bizarro! Bizarro will kill Superman!"

"Then you leave me no other choice," Superman pulled out another clear Kryptonian crystal from behind his yellow belt and gently tossed it at the clone's feet.

"What is this?"

"The only way I know how to save you from death," Superman replied, firing a thin heat beam from his eyes at the crystal. The crystal exploded and a black hole slowly took form. "I am sending you to the phantom zone."

The black hole became a full fledged portal with an intense suction that even the clone could not fight against. "No, Bizarro don't want to go!"

Superman did not reply. He stood where he was and watched as the clone tried to fight against the pull. His feet dug through the asphalt in the attempt to escape. Finally, he had lost his footing and went spiraling through the portal. His scream echoed all the way through until the portal closed, trapping Bizarro in the phantom zone.


	34. The Final Battle

**Chapter 34: The Final Battle**

When the portal to the phantom zone collapsed, General Lane stormed towards him. "I demand to know what you just did? Was that a black hole you created?" Such technology was beyond acceptable, in his eyes. This could very well be technology that he will be forced to take away from Superman. The U.S Government will not allow a weapon that can create black holes to kill people, to be in the hands of any private citizen.

"No, I did not kill him. I sent him to what is known as the Phantom Zone. It serves kind of like a prison, but the atmosphere, there, will keep him alive and healthy, while keeping him from doing any more damage. It was the only way I could save his life."

"Talking about saving lives, I need your help, Superman. A fellow reporter of mine, Clark Kent, has gone missing." Lois asked, almost embarrassed that she had almost forgotten about him in all the craziness.

"Is he a tall man, kind of goofy looking, with glasses?" Superman asked.

"You've seen him?"

"Don't worry, Lois, he is safe. I rescued him from Lexcorp tower," He assured her.

"So that dungeon we found was for Clark Kent, not you?" Turpin deducted. "What happend to you?"

"Metallo had me in a tight situation for awhile. I apologize to everyone for my long absence. Now, if you don't mind, I have to stop Metallo from killing Luthor."

"I think I know where you can find both of them," Lois said.

* * *

Lex entered his secret hideout which he had built several years ago. Only Mercy knew of its whereabouts, but the problem was that she had become a loose cannon. How long this hideout would remain secret, he could not estimate. He did not imagine her to have loose lips right away; but then again, his faith in her had taken a massive nose dive. For now, at least, it would be safe enough to hide from the authorities, Metallo, and the defective clone.

That blasted clone had cost him everything. Somehow, he had made a mistake in trying to manipulate Superman's DNA to create the clone. It appeared that Superman had more complex DNA than he had anticipated. He should have known as much. This was a catastrophic mistake that was costing him everything. If he could lie low long enough, he could rebound from this and rebuild his empire.

Building his secret lair down underneath Metropolis was a stroke of genius. No one ever came down to the abandoned subway tunnels, let alone search them hard enough to find secret entrances. It took many years to turn the storage rooms and parts of the tunnels into a massive penthouse-like lair.

Lex headed for his desk when his desk chair spun around. Sitting there was Metallo, and his eyes beamed straight for him. "You have a quaint little place here. If I was fully human, I might have actually enjoyed your pool."

"What? How did you find this place?" Lex was angry and confused. It was impossible for him to have found this hideout.

"It wasn't all that hard," he gloated, standing up from behind the desk. "How I found you, really isn't that important; what's about to happen to you, is."

Lex grinned; his moment of shock had disappeared as quickly as it came. "Do you really think that you can catch me unprepared?" He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, single button control. "All I have to do is press this button, and your Kryptonite heart gets ejected from your chest."

Metallo ceased his approach. The human half of his face clearly showed disdain towards Lex. He should have known Lex would have something up in his sleeve.

"Now, I would much rather you refocus your attention towards killing Superman, but if you come any closer to me, I will not hesitate in shutting you down. I created you and I can destroy you."

"The boy scout will die by my hands, in my own time. You, on the other hand, have a much shorter life expectancy. You are already passed your expiration date."

"It's a pity," Lex replied dryly. "After everything I have done for you, you spit in my face. I suppose I should be able to find another way of Killing Superman."

Lex pressed the button on the remote. There was a small clanging in Metallo's chest, as the chest plate cover tried to open up. Making other strange noises, the cover struggled before finally giving up; it had become jammed. Lex's confidence had immediately vanished.

"Well, how about that?" Metallo laughed. It appears that my battle with your clone has jammed my chest plate. My Kryptonite heart is quite safe where it is."

Metallo lashed out at him, and grabbed Lex by the throat. He let out a gurgle as he nearly used enough strength to crush his throat. "It's time for you to learn to fly."

He threw Lex into the statue of David. His head hit against the elbow of the statue before crashing onto the ground. Blood trickled down from his temple as he tried to focus his vision through the blur. The replica was made from real stone, and weighed thousands of pounds. It didn't even budge upon impact.

Metallo stood over Lex, enjoying every moment of torturing the man who had ruined his life. "You're always prided yourself on your book smarts. Perhaps you have a book that can help you, right now, against me. Here, let me help you to your books." He picked him up, off the ground, by the color of his shirt. He violently swung him into the massive bookshelf wall. Lex hit the center of the bookshelf with his back, causing a searing pain reverberate across his spine. As he fell to the ground, several dozen books fell on top of him.

The impact caused the bookshelf to teeter before it decided to come down on top of him, spilling the rest of the books on top of him. The bookshelf, itself, came crashing down on top of him, completely burying him.

Broken, but still alive, Lex struggled to free himself. He could feel blood moistening his face, though he could not tell how bad it was. The pain, which he was feeling across his body, told him that it was pretty bad.

Metallo threw the bookshelf to the side and dug through the books to pull Lex out of the pile. He dragged him across the floor and dropped him in front of the replica of the Statue of David. "You have crushed everyone who ever stood in your way. Now, it's about time someone returned the favor."

He stepped around to the other side of the statue and placed both of his hands onto the statue. He let out a loud grunt as it took much of his strength to tip the statue. Leaning on only one edge of the stone platform, gravity took over. Lex was too stunned to roll out of the way. The statue came crushing down upon Lex's chest. Blood poured out of his mouth, as he could feel one of his lungs collapse. With massive internal injuries, death was calling his name.

"You know that you deserve every minute of this," Metallo said. "How does it feel to be tormented relentlessly?"

Trying to speak was excruciatingly painful, and breathing had become increasingly difficult. Each breath he took felt like a fire burning in his chest. He could feel the blood building up in his throat. If his luck did not change quickly, he would end up choking on his own blood.

"By the looks of it, you have very little time remaining on this planet. If you believe in God, perhaps now is the time to repent of your sins."

"Perhaps you should take your own advice," Superman said, walking through the secret entrance.

"Superman?" Metallo was not surprised to see him, but what was surprising was him coming to his rescue. "You are going to rescue this piece of filth, despite what he has done to you?"

"No one deserves to die, even people like Luthor. The courts will deal with him. Let me get him to the hospital and try to save his life."

"You're a man of high ethics, Superman. The only problem is that I will not allow you to come near him unless you kill me. If you want to save this scumbag's life, you're going to have to violate your own code of ethics, and we both know you won't do that."

The two of them stared at each other, daring each other to make the first move with their eyes. Superman walked towards Lex, determined not to allow the android to intimidate him.

With his chest plate jammed, Metallo had no way of winning against Superman. His intent was to keep Superman distracted until Luthor died. He could always retreat afterwards and find a way to open his chest plate again. He followed through with his warning, and tackled him like a line backer. They crashed through the heavy stone wall, which crumbled upon their impact. They were back out in the dark subway tunnel, standing on the dead railroad tracks.

The two of them immediately went at it, trading blows and jabs. Without the use of his Kryptonite heart, the momentum was definitely going in Superman's direction. Despite him having been on death's doorsteps a few hours ago, he had come back stronger than ever. Metallo just could not keep up with his momentum.

The only light in the pitch blackness of the tunnel was the light from the hideout through the newly created hole in the wall. The darkness did not bother Superman, because he could use his x-ray vision to work like night vision. As for Metallo, he had night vision built into this android's body.

Metallo made a lunge for Superman, pushing him up against the wall. He pulled his right arm back delivered a breath-taking punch into his gut. He was able to get in two more punches before the short lived momentum switched again. Superman swiped the side of his face with his left fist. The blow had caused him to stumble to the side.

The swipe made such an impact, that Metallo's vision became staticy for a brief second. When it cleared up he looked over to where Superman had been up against the wall, to see him no longer standing there. Instead, he looked up to see him in the middle of a leaping punch. This time, Metallo collapsed unto his belly.

Superman stepped back from the android to a safe distance, as he took a deep breath. As soon as his lungs were full, he unleashed his icy cold breath. The pressure of his breath pinned Metallo to the ground as icicles began to form on his body. Soon, a layer of ice had formed, and he found himself frozen to the railroad tracks. Superman continued assaulting him with the icy breath until Metallo was encased in a giant piece of ice.

Turning around, Superman went to rescue Lex. Certain that he had the time to get Lex and get out before Metallo could break free, he stepped through the hole. His hope, however, was dashed when he could hear the ice shattering. He froze where he stood and could hear Metallo charging at him from behind. He waited until the time was just right, and then stepped to the left to avoid being rammed from behind. As he was in the process of running past him, Superman grabbed him by the throat and arm. Lifting him off the ground, he spun him around once and then swung him into the second section of the lair. He flew through the doorway and landed in the deep end of the giant swimming pool.

Not waiting a single second, he pranced over to Lex who was in the middle of a coughing fit. With each cough, blood would pour out of his mouth; he was in critical condition. Using his X-ray vision, he could see the massive internal damage in his body. If he did not get to the hospital right now, he was going to die.

Superman bent his knees and grabbed the statue that had Lex pinned. Using his legs in a proper heavy lifting technique, he hoisted the stone statue until it was standing upright once again. He didn't stop there; repositioning himself, he went from lifting to pushing and tipped the statue over in the opposite direction. The statue broke into three pieces as it hit the floor.

With the statue out of the picture, he knelt down to Lex and looked up at him with glassy eyes. "You are in desperate need of medical attention. I have to take you to the hospital."

"You're not…taking me anywhere. I am paying…for my sins."

"It does not have to be like this, Luthor."

"You need to worry…about Metallo. He knows how to kill you." Lex coughed up more blood. "If you do not finish him now…He will kill you. There will be…no stopping him."

Superman thought about his logic. It made complete sense, but it would also mean that Lex would die. Even though it could come back to kill him later, he was not willing to allow anyone to die in order to prevent what might happen later.

"You must…remove his head. It's…the only way…to stop him."

"No matter what he has done, I will not kill him. I will never take a life, Luthor. That is one thing that is different between you and me."

Lex would have laughed if he was not in complete agony. "Always the boy scout, Clark. You've always been…a good friend to me."

Superman was stunned. How did he know his secret identity? "How did you know?"

"Never mind that," Lex replied, before spitting up more blood. "Metallo…is not…an android. He is…fully robot."

"I don't understand," Clark said, giving up on his proper English which he used to further hide his earthly identity.

"Lied to him. Told him…that his brain…was put into…body of a robot," Lex sentences were becoming shorter. His time left on this earth was nearing its end. "Could not save brain; …only saved memories. Told him he was still…part human…knowing you wouldn't kill him. There's a button…on back of neck. Push it…remove his head…will be...permanently deactivated."

Superman did not know how to take this information. On one hand, he was glad that defeating Metallo was going to be easier than he had thought; on the other hand, he was even more furious at Lex for what he did to Corben. Lex had him killed in cold blood for no other reason but for revenge.

"Now that I know, I can deactivate him at a later date. I must get you to a hospital."

"Leave me!" He said angrily, causing a major coughing fit and a massive loss of blood. He weakly tilted his head to look towards the pool. "Stop him now! He's going for…more Kryptonite."

Superman looked into the other section to see Metallo approaching a giant vault on the overhang balcony over the deep end of the pool. The Kryptonite had to be in that vault, and somehow Metallo knew about it. Despite the growing danger, Superman was still not comfortable about leaving Lex here to fight Metallo. "Go you fool!" Lex growled.

Against his better judgment, Superman stood to his feet and turned towards the swimming pool. Moving with lightning speed, he flew through the doorway into the second section and up towards Metallo, who had just reached the vault. He rammed into the back of Metallo with such force, that the android slammed into the vault, putting a deep dent into the door.

Before Metallo could come to his senses, Superman grabbed the android's shoulder and threw him off the balcony. The android fell into the water like a boulder. This was the opportunity to end this madness. He leaped feet first into the water after the android, whose weight made it near impossible to float to the top of the water.

The two of them wrestled underwater. Holding his breath, Superman was able to position himself behind the android and put him in a headlock. Metallo flailed wildly to try to break free, but his grip around his neck was too strong.

Superman slipped his free hand between his chest and Metallo's neck as he felt around for the button that Lex had told him about. It did not take him long to find a square notch directly in the center of his neck. With his thumb, he pressed hard on the notch, and bubble ascended as the body sank to the bottom of the pool.

With no one fighting him anymore, he swam to the shallow end of the pool with Metallo's head in his left hand. When he reached the shallow end, he was surprised to hear Metallo still running his mouth off. "What have you done to me? This can't be happening! I am going to kill you!"

Stepping out the pool, Superman could tell that the head was running on backup power, but without a body, Metallo was more than harmless. He could not help but feel like it was still murder to allow his power to run dry. An essence of John Corben still lived in this robot. There was only one thing he could think of to do. He dropped Metallo's head into the pool, and unleashed his frigid breath onto the shallow end of the pool. Before long, the shallow end of the pool froze into a massive piece of ice, freezing the head inside.

"That should take care of you until I can take you to the fortress."

With Metallo dealt with, he returned his focus to Lex; but when he returned to him, he was moments away from death. There was nothing that could be done for him any longer; he had lost too much blood.

As Superman knelt down beside him, Lex looked up at him. For the first time in a very long time, he had the friendly face that he used to have back during their school days. "Clark, I'm sorry…for everything. Allowed father…to control me. You've always been…my best friend." Lex Luthor's eyes gently closed, as he passed away.


	35. The Finally

**Chapter 35: The Finally**

Clark was glad when the Funeral service was over. Few even bothered to show up to the funeral. When it came to friends, Clark was alone. Business associates were scared to show up, for fear of being tied to some of Lex's illegal activities. If it was up to Lois, she would not have come, either. She was only here for emotional support. Lex's ex-wife, Rachel, and her eight year old son, had come to the funeral, despite her undying hatred for the man.

As soon as the priest had finished his eulogy, the small crowd began to disperse. Clark and Lois slowly made their way away from the casket. "Thank you Lois, for coming with me." Clark said, pushing his glassed back up the bridge of his nose.

"It's no problem. I just wanted to make sure that he didn't rise from the grave or anything like that. You never know when or where the next great story will fall on your lap."

Clark laughed. "I hear that you are already working on your next big piece."

"It's more like my next mission. Do you realize how Superman always seems to be there whenever trouble rears its ugly head?"

"I've heard that'," Clark replied. "What about it?"

"For him to be able to do that, he must be hiding out in plain sight. Do you really think he's just sitting at a coffee table waiting for the next crime to be committed?"

"Well, I…"

"Of course not," Lois replied, not giving Clark the chance to offer his opinion. "I think he's hiding in plain sight."

"In plain sight?"

"I think he hides among us, disguised as one of us," Lois smiled.

"You mean, you think Superman has a secret identity?" Clark replied with a grin on his face.

"I would stake my career on it. I'm going to make it my, personal, mission to discover his secret identity."

"Gee, Lois, I'm not sure Superman would want his identity to be revealed to the world. Perhaps he has a really good reason for having one in the first place."

"Perhaps," Lois replied. "I might consider changing his name on paper if I have to, but I'm doing this more so for personal reasons rather than professional."

"Well then, I wish you luck on your mission," Clark replied. He looked over to the casket to see Rachel and her son still standing there. "If you will excuse me Lois, I want to give my condolence."

"Go ahead. I need to be heading back to work anywhere. Catch ya later, Clark." Lois made her way out of the graveyard to a cab that was waiting for her.

Clark chuckled. Only Lois Lane would show up to a funeral in a taxi cab. He turned around and returned to the casket where the former Mrs. Luthor and her son remained. Clark had never gotten to meet Rachel; the falling out between Lex and himself had started long before she was even in the picture. That did not stop him from feeling sorry for her and her son. "You may not know me, but my name is Clark Kent. I was a good friend of Lex's back in elementary school. I just wanted to say, that I'm sorry for your loss."

She looked at him with a curled upper lip. "The man was trash. I don't know how he was when you knew him, but he was a complete jerk. The only reason I'm here is for my son, Lex Junior, who was still fond of him."

"I understand," Clark replied and knelt down to the red head eight year old that stood underneath her shadow. "I'm sorry about your Father. I used to know him when he was your age."

The boy was a splitting image of his father, except for the red hair. It appeared that Lex's Hallermann-Streiff syndrome had not been passed down to him. Perhaps he would have a much better life than his father ever had.

Lex Jr. did not look up at him, but Clark could clearly see a hatred burning in his eyes. "Superman killed him. Superman killed my dad. I hate him! I hate him!"

The boy carried the Luthor gene alright. Clark was heartbroken to see this young boy already starting to walk down the same road as his father. He could only pray that somehow the boy would avoid the same pitfalls that his father had fallen into. With a loving mother raising him, perhaps there was still hope.

* * *

A large crowd had shown up to the Metropolis National Park. Lois was glad that she and Jimmy had arrived early so she could be right up in front of the constructed platform. Standing up on the platform was Police Inspector Henderson of the MPD, Chief Inspector Dan Turpin of the MSCU, and the mayor of Metropolis.

Jimmy took a picture of the three of them talking among themselves. "I can't believe Clark is gonna miss this. This is the most exciting day Metropolis has seen in a long time. It's not often Superman is given the key to the city."

"You know Clark," Lois replied. "He has his head on writing a story about the fate of Lexcorp. Besides, he won't admit this, but I think he's kind of jealous of Superman."

"You think Clark likes you?"

"I think so. He's sweet and everything, but he's just really not my kind of guy."

Jimmy took another photo of the leaders before changing the subject. "So your father must be going nuts by this ceremony."

Lois shook her head and frowned. "He is still obsessed in trying to pass an anti-vigilante bill. As long as the city of Metropolis is behind Superman, I think he'll have a hard time trying to get that bill passed."

The crowd began to go wild as Superman appeared, gently flying over the heads of the crowd. The high school band started playing their heroic composition as he slowly flew to the platform. As gracefully as he came to the park, he hovered downward until his feet touched the platform. He came in for a soft landing on the platform. The three leaders on the platform were quick to offer a friendly handshake to the hero.

When the mayor walked up to the platform, he signaled for the high school band to cease playing. They promptly obliged the mayor, so he could get this ceremony on the way. "We gather here to celebrate the arrival of Metropolis' newest citizen: Superman. Since his arrival, he has saved many lives, and has begun making Metropolis a better place to live."

As the mayor continued with his speech, Superman felt very strange. His vision became blurry. He did not feel light headed or dizzy, so he did not suspect Kryptonite, but something really strange was happening. His blurry vision intensified until he found himself surrounded by nothing but red nothingness. A dark, evil voice called unto him, using his Kryptonian name. "Kal-El, last son of Krypton!"

"Who are you? Show yourself!" He commanded.

The voice only laughed in reply. Through the red, he could see a half faded-in view of Metropolis in ruins. Flames were reaching high into the sky. The Daily Planet tower was completely in ruins. This horrific view changed to a closer look into the streets of Metropolis. It was as if he was watching a television movie. He could now see the ruins of a skyscraper which had completely collapsed upon itself. A single piece of wood stuck out of the rubble, and hanging on the giant splinter was his red cape with his yellow family crest. It flapped in the wind, torn in shreds with blood stains smeared across the crest.

Superman turned around to see Lois Lane, kneeling in the center of the street, coddling a broken and beaten version of himself on her legs. He was swollen and bloody almost beyond recognition. His blood staining her blouse, she wept uncontrollably.

A monstrous growl came from his right, pulling his attention from this terrifying sight. He turned to see a shadow of some sort of beast that was almost eleven feet tall, and bulkier than a professional wrestler. The monster's eyes were glowing, and through the shadow, he could almost see bones piercing throughout his face and entire body.

It let out a blood curdling roar that unnerved him. Fear was something new to Superman. Being virtually indestructible, he had never found himself truly scared over anything. This beast standing before him terrified him down to his core.

The dark voice returned as ominous as ever. "Kal-El, last son of Krypton, you are going to die."

As if someone had pressed stop on a remote control, he found himself back into reality where the mayor was finished with his speech. "So, Superman, we want to honor you today by giving you the key to the city. We officially welcome you to Earth and to our city."

The crowd cheered as the mayor handed him an opened black case, revealing a palm sized golden key. Still unsettled by the vision he just had, he accepted the key and followed the mayor's prompting to come to the podium and give a comment.

"Well, uh, I do not know quite what to say?" Superman quickly tried to put aside the vision and get his head back to the here and now. "When I first arrived here, I was not sure how I would be received. Here I was, a man with unspeakable powers and abilities; I never imagined how I would ever fit into your society. When I came to Earth, I saw a world at war with itself, but I also saw the potential for good. Very much like my planet, I saw good standing up to fight evil. Since I cannot serve to help my home world, I decided that I would stand and fight evil here, on Earth.

"I have not come here to be your savior, but as an example. As super as I may be, I am only one man. I cannot make Metropolis or this planet a better place by myself. Only together can we make planet earth a better place to live."

Everyone went crazy; the applause was deafening. He waved farewell as the band started to play once again. Taking to the sky, he felt like a new dawn for Metropolis had started. What he said rung true; that he would do his best to embody the human compactly for good. He would take the lead and protect Earth with his dying breath. He did not know what this vision he had was; but if it was a warning of things to come, he would be ready, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

**Thank you very much for taking the time to read this story. It has been a blast to write.**

**Keep an eye out! On 4/3/11 The second story of my Superman trilogy will arrive. It will be entitled: Superman: The Man of Steel (No inspiration or anything to do with the new movie that has yet to be released as of the publishing of this story)  
**


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